Through The Looking Glass
by Sad-Blue-Eyed-Angel 2010
Summary: All Hallows Eve is often a night of mystery and spiritual happenings. Alan and Virgil find themselves thrown into another world and together they try to figure out a way to get home with the help of a couple unlikely candidates. Rated M for language. Happy Halloween!
1. Twilight Zone

Alan and Virgil were currently in transit to a hurricane disaster taking place in the state of New Jersey. The governor had called a state of emergency and Scott had Gordon with him in Thunderbird 1 to begin the rescue efforts immediately upon landing. Both brothers were exhausted, they'd just come from a massive flood in Guyana and they were covered from head to toe in mud. Alan struggled to keep his eyes open as he helped Virgil pilot the giant green mammoth to the next danger zone.

"I'm so tired." Alan muttered from behind his hand as he stifled a colossal yawn. "In the last 96 hours I think I've gotten maybe four hours of sleep total."

"You're not the only one little brother." Virgil shook his head, before running a grubby hand across his face. Mud streaks were left over his eyes giving him the appearance of a raccoon.

"Hopefully after we are done, all four of us can go into hibernation for a couple days." Alan looked at the calendar to check the date. Today was all hallows eve – or more commonly known as Halloween.

"Not likely…just in the last four days we've been called out on three or more rescues. All the rescues unfortunately occurred just when we've all crawled into bed after a nice shower." Virgil groaned as Alan grabbed the thermos of coffee that they'd been given by the Red Cross when helping with the flood relief efforts in Guyana. "Can you pour me some?"

"I was already pouring it for you. I've got tea from the locals; I'm good for the time being." Alan held up his own thermos of strong black tea he'd been given when he'd pointed out he doesn't normally drink coffee.

"You are so weird. I don't know how you can manage with just tea to stay awake." Virgil accepted the strong black coffee from his brother sighing in relief at the bitter taste giving him a jolt to awaken his foggy mind.

"I attended junior high and high school at boarding schools, they didn't serve coffee to their students. So those of us that had trouble waking up had to make do with what we could find…I found mine with tea. It's simple yet effective." Alan took a sip from the hot liquid, not caring for once if he burned his tongue or not.

"Scott, John, Gordy and me so would not have survived attending your previous school. We all inherited dad's extreme love of coffee." Virgil glanced over at his youngest brother, before smiling bemusedly.

"Yeah, you all began drinking it as soon as you all turned thirteen. That is so unhealthy. I'm surprised you all grew as tall as you did." Alan slurped on his tea.

"Hey, like you're one to talk. I think that tea has some freakishly abnormal growth hormone in it. I mean you're what five foot eleven?" Virgil rolled his eyes exasperatedly at his little brother.

"Officially? I am six foot two." Alan grinned at Virgil when the elder gaped in shock at his younger…not exactly little brother.

"Holy…I could have sworn that you were still only an inch shorter than Scott? Now you're over two inches taller than him? That ain't natural bro!" Virgil groaned in disbelief at his baby brother's height. "Dad was never six foot two or taller…he stopped growing at six foot like Scott. What happened?"

"Maybe I inherited Grandpa Oliver's genes…mom had a tall father didn't she?" Alan inquired timidly, mentioning their mother usually didn't bode well with the Tracy sons or patriarch…primarily because the youngest always blamed himself for the loss. His mother died in childbirth with him from placental abruption…the placenta tore away from the uterine wall and his mother bled out minutes after delivering her youngest child.

"Not possible. Mom was adopted…weren't you ever told?" Virgil glanced warily at his younger brother; the nineteen year old blonde hung his head before shaking it slowly.

"You know I don't like asking dad about mom. It makes him depressed to talk about her." Alan refused to look at the medic. He hated himself for even bringing it up.

"You could have come to me or the other guys to ask if you were curious. We wouldn't mind telling you a little about mom." Virgil knew that Alan blamed himself for the death of their mother, he'd found out when Alan had gone through an angst phase and wrote dark poetry about wanting to self-mutilate back when he was fifteen. "Get rid of that hang dog look Al, you didn't kill mom."

"I know I did Virge, maybe not intentionally, but I still played a hand in mom's death. If she had listened to the doctor and aborted the pregnancy she might have still lived." Alan would always blame himself for their mother's death. He had been a surprise pregnancy after all. His mother hadn't known she was pregnant until she was almost ten weeks along.

According to the journals he'd found hidden in a hope chest in the attic, his mother had been advised by the doctor to abort the pregnancy and she'd adamantly refused to do so. His mother had written that his father Jeff had supported her decision to maintain the pregnancy as long as it was possible. They'd hidden the pregnancy from Alan's brothers until Lucy's stomach began to fill out and become a tiny little bump. At which time it was not physically possible to abort the baby and the chances of having a miscarriage were unlikely.

"Al, you can't always be beating yourself up. You did not intentionally set out to kill mom, it was a freak happening. If that robber hadn't broken in the house and caused mom to fall down the stairs, she wouldn't have gone into premature labor with you. If you want to blame someone blame him. But don't blame yourself for something that was out of your control." Virgil blew out an exasperated sigh, before glancing down at the compass. It was spinning madly out of control.

"What the h…" The lights going out briefly before turning back on cut Virgil off. Alan and Virgil shared a spooked look, before Alan called in to base.

"Thunderbird 2 to base, how do you read?" Alan tapped his finger on the navigation equipment when he'd noticed the compass needle spinning. "Are you picking up my transmission? Base do you read?"

"Try changing frequencies, call John on Five." Virgil suggested, before glancing out the window. Alan nodded in agreement before changing frequencies.

"Thunderbird 2 to Thunderbird 5…do you copy over?" Silence was Alan's only reply. "Thunderbird 5, John can you hear me? This is Alan…how do you read?"

"This can't be happening. Try Scott through your comm. watch." Virgil's eyebrows wrinkled when visibility became zero. "Tell him we are in the soup, I am going to need to fly lower."

"Okay." Alan's reply was a little shaky when he'd noticed the fog that had rolled in. Thunderbird 2 was practically flying blind. "Scott, do you copy? Over?"

"What is it Sprout?" Scott's voice rang out loud and clear.

"We're caught in some fog and visibility is at an all-time low. We need to fly lower. Our ETA is going to need at the very least ten extra minutes tacked onto the original estimated incoming time of arrival." Alan replied as calmly as he could.

"Sprout? Did you say something?" Scott's voice was clear, but he'd apparently not heard what Alan said. "Alan, quit playing games…we need you to focus!"

"Can you hear me?" Alan shot Virgil a worried gaze when he'd inquired of Scott.

"Alan, you need to speak up. I can't hear anything you're saying." Scott sounded irritated.

"Scott, it's me Virgil! Can you hear us?" Virgil called from the main pilot's seat. "We are going to fly lower we can't see."

"Alan, quit playing games and help Virgil pilot Thunderbird 2, call me if ya'll run into trouble. Scott out." Scott disconnected the call and Alan and Virgil both had their jaws hanging open. Hadn't Scott heard anything they'd just said?

"I'll try Gordo. Maybe it was just a bad connection." Virgil dialed in his watch to Gordon's frequency.

"Yo Virge, what's up?" Virgil gave a relieved sigh to hear his little brother's voice sounding somewhat carefree.

"Gordo, do you read me?" Virgil crossed his fingers in hopes of Gordon hearing him.

"Virge? Did Alan get ahold of your watch? Scott's pretty raving mad over Alan playing with his watch while we're on a rescue." Gordon sounded totally confused and Virgil did one of his best fish impressions. His mouth opened and closed soundlessly, before he got ahold of himself and managed to speak again.

"Gordo can you hear me?" Virgil paused…waiting for reply from Gordon that he'd heard him.

"A little word of advice Alan…quit playing with the watches. Dad will be furious when he finds out you were playing around instead of helping Virgil fly the green bug." Gordon spoke in an admonishing tone to his younger brother.

"But we're not playing with the watches! Can't you hear us?!" Alan cried from the co-pilots seat.

"Virgil, what is your ETA? We're waiting and dad is getting worried, you guys are late!" Gordon inquired, his voice breaking up slightly from static.

"We are going to be a few minutes late! We are flying in the soup!" Virgil growled back into his watch. How come neither of his brothers was hearing him and Alan and why did base and Thunderbird Five not reply to their calls? "Holy Shit…"

The lights went out completely in Thunderbird Two and the flight controls completely stopped working. Alan flipped on the mayday signal that would notify Thunderbird Five of their problem and worked to help Virgil find a place to land, the only problem was…they were over the open ocean…not exactly many places to choose from to land something as big as the green mammoth.

"We're going to need to ditch, I have no control!" Virgil cried out, while pulling down on the yoke.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Alan, like Virgil pulled down on the yoke while flipping all the emergency engine reboot switches. Nothing was working.

"Brace for impact!" Virgil reached across the console and grabbed Alan's hand and both brothers got into the crash position.

"No!" Alan screamed out, before everything went dark and he felt himself being thrown around. His grip on Virgil's hand only tightened as the thought of '_we're going to die'_ crossed Alan's mind. The only sound that was heard for several minutes was a loud metallic scream as the metal of Thunderbird Two contorted under the weight of its massive bulk. When everything quieted down, Alan was the first to speak. "Virgil, are you okay?"

Placing his free hand against his forehead, Alan became aware of blood oozing from a laceration within his hairline. He felt dizzy and his whole body ached. His left hand was still tightly being held by Virgil who thankfully groaned in pain, letting Alan know he hadn't been killed. Alan lifted his head from his hand and opened his eyes, he couldn't see anything…and he couldn't tell if he'd gone blind or if it was because the cockpit was so dark.

"Al-an? Virgil groaned out. He sounded like he was out of breath, probably from the safety harness squeezing all the air from his lungs during impact.

"Virgil? Are you okay?" Alan turned his head, trying to find a light source. There was a flashlight in the emergency kit in the cockpit; the only problem was Alan couldn't remember where it had been prior to their crash landing.

"I think so. My chest hurts though." Virgil grunted, before giving a pained wheeze. "I think I dislocated a couple ribs…how about you? Are you hurt?"

"I have a cut on my forehead…where is the emergency kit? I need to find a flashlight." Alan looked around in search of the kit, but it was so black…he couldn't tell where anything was.

"You can't see?" Virgil sounded…concerned for lack of a better word.

"No. It's pitch black in here." Alan continued on speaking. He heard Virgil gasp slightly before the medic groaned in pain. "Virgil, what's going on? Are you okay?"

"Hold still for a minute. I want to take a look at your head. You said you got a cut on your forehead?" Virgil could be heard fumbling with his safety harness before another groan sounded. Within moments, Alan felt Virgil place his hand on his knee. Virgil was leaning close enough into Alan's face that the younger brother could smell the spearmint gum that the medic liked to chew.

"How bad is the cut Virge?" Alan lifted a shaky hand up to his forehead and Virgil grasped the shaking limb in his own.

"It's quite shallow…" Virgil started rustling around in his jumpsuit, before a quiet _'click_' of a flashlight was heard. "Okay Al. I want you to follow my finger."

Alan furrowed his eyebrows. How could he follow Virgil's finger if he couldn't see it? Huffing with an exasperated tone, Alan crossed his arms. He was waiting patiently for Virgil to turn on a flashlight or some other light source so that he _could_ see his brother and the finger he wanted him to follow. Virgil gently shook Alan's shoulder, before Alan swatted at the hand on his shoulder.

"Sprout, I said follow my finger." Virgil repeated what he wanted Alan to do.

"I can't. It is still as dark as night in here and I can't see you. If it wasn't for the spearmint gum you're chewing, I wouldn't even know that you are leaning into my face." Alan sounded irritated. Virgil gasped slightly.

"But the lights are on. It's lit up like normal in here." Alan felt the heat from the flashlight bulb on his face, but couldn't see anything.

"I think you've got a screw loose Virgie. It is pitch black in here." Alan repeated.

"I don't think so Al. That cut on your forehead starts at your hair line and extends down towards your left cheek. Alan…I think you've gone blind." Virgil sounded worried, but neither brother could focus on that because another sharp jarring of the giant green mammoth caused both brothers to lose consciousness after being thrown around the cockpit.

XXXXXXX

"Scott, what's the status on the ETA of Thunderbird Two?" Jeff inquired from his place at Command and Control in the lounge.

"_TB2 is late sir. The guys called in fifteen minutes ago, but I think it was Alan playing with his watch. Nobody spoke up when I answered."_ Scott replied from mobile command.

"Have you tried calling Virgil or Alan back?" Jeff was tapping a pen rhythmically on his desk. "It's not like Alan to play around during a rescue."

"_I know that dad, but if he's trying to stay awake or he's bored…he'd probably play around."_ Scott sounded mildly concerned. "_I'll contact John on five to see if he can pinpoint their location."_

As if John was reading Scott's mind, he connected to base and mobile command to update his family. Jeff looked over at the frame which held John's portrait to see his second son looking beyond puzzled. He was muttering to himself and shaking his head deep in thought.

"John, what seems to be the problem?" Jeff inquired, breaking John out of his musings.

"_Sir, it would seem that a storm front has moved in front of TB2 and they've been grounded."_ John worried his bottom lip as he informed his dad and big brother of what was going on.

"That's most unusual. Usually storms don't affect TB2 in her travels." Jeff mused to John. "Have you tried to get in contact with them to find out if the storm has affected any other locations?"

"_Yes, I have tried contacting them. But the troubling news is…I can't get through. Neither Alan nor Virgil is answering the radio nor are they answering their watches." _John sounded perplexed as he revealed the news.

"Hmm, keep trying. I will try to lock onto their location myself and see if I can get through." Jeff started to send in the signal to Virgil's watch. "Scott, you and Gordon do the best that you can with the resources available. Contact me if you get word from Alan and Virgil."

'_Yes sir. If at all possible, please keep Gordon and myself in the loop on their whereabouts."_ Scott moved to disconnect the call.

XXXXXXX

"Hey, you girls get away from there! You don't know what that is!" Virgil began to stir at the sounds of a young woman shouting orders. There was a bunch of girlish giggling, before a gasp brought him into awareness.

"Ooh, two cute boys." A second female voice sounded off. She sounded very energetic.

"Alecia, stay away from them! They could be ax murderers!" The same voice that had been shouting orders earlier made Virgil open his eyes slightly before he closed them with a groan. His head was pounding.

"They are too cute to be ax murderers Stacy. Judging on their weird clothing, I'll bet they are aliens that crash landed here." The second voice, apparently a girl named Alecia spoke up. "Aw, the cute blonde boy is injured. Perhaps we should take him and his colleague to Rachel, she could fix them up."

"Mom and Dad would kill us Alecia; just because you're boy crazy doesn't mean that our parents will approve of two strange guys that showed up in the jungle be brought into our house." A third voice was heard. It wasn't nearly as loud or haughty as the first or as energetic as the second voices. It was more laid-back and calm.

"Aw, but Jane. Rachel will want to make sure they are okay. I mean look, the cute brunette looks like he received quite the goose egg and the blonde is bleeding. Do you think mom and dad would approve of us leaving these two guys out here to die of their injuries?" Alecia was heard again and she sounded really whiney.

"I'd have to agree with what Ally is saying. I know I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything happened to these two. I mean, come on…how often do we get to see two cute boys on our island anyway?" A fourth voice sounded like a mix between the second and third voices. Calm and thoughtful, yet kind of energetic.

"We don't Virginia. Dad likes to scare any and all boys away from us." A fifth voice sounded a bit closer and totally different than all the other voices. This fifth voice sounded very mellow and quiet…quite the opposite of all the other voices. Virgil finally managed to drag his heavy eyes open, and when he looked up he was surrounded by a bunch of girls.

"Ooh, the cute brunette is finally awake." Virgil gazed up at the girl that spoke and found she was a pretty redhead girl with unique hazel eyes.

"What? Where am I" Virgil groaned, his eyes sliding shut at the pain in his head. A cool hand patting his cheek roused him though.

A girl with golden blonde hair had leaned down to pat Virgil's face. She resembled Virgil and Alan's mother…and to be quite honest it scared him. She appeared to only be in her teens still, virtually harmless. Gazing around, his eyes met with a brunette girl with brown eyes. She was staring him dead in the eyes, almost as if they'd met before. Another girl seemed to be an older version of the brunette only she had blue eyes. As blue as sapphires.

"Who are you?" Virgil managed to sit up, before looking around to find Alan lying flat on his back unconscious. "Alan? Oh my God, are you okay?"

Virgil scrambled over to his baby brother and lifted his head to lie in his lap. Virgil used the sleeve of his jumpsuit to dab at the still actively bleeding laceration on Alan's forehead. He'd received two black eyes and he was still covered in mud from the rescue they'd just left in Guyana. Looking around, Virgil realized they were back on their island, in the jungle and Thunderbird Two was wrecked beyond repair.

"Come on little brother. Speak to me? Come on, open those baby blues for me!" Virgil rubbed his knuckles against Alan's sternum and received no response. "Damn it, I'm your big brother! Listen to me when I'm talking to you!"

"Alan? That's this guy's name?" Virgil turned to look at who spoke to see the young blonde creeping slowly over towards him and his little brother.

"Yeah." Virgil cradled Alan's head in his lap, praying that he'd wake up and open his eyes to gaze back at him.

"He's your brother?" Virgil kept an eye on the blonde girl that gradually crept closer to him.

"My baby brother." Virgil leant down and placed his forehead down against Alan's still bleeding forehead. "You can't take him mom. Not yet."

"Hey." Virgil lifted his head, and found the brunette with brown eyes had come to kneel beside the teenage blonde girl.

"What?" Tears well in Virgil's eyes, he was afraid to lose his little brother.

"Can you walk?" The brunette spoke softly, trying to calm the panicking older brother.

"I think so. Why, where are you taking me?" Virgil looked around. He recognized the jungle, but not the girls.

"Up to our infirmary for our family medic to take a look at you and your brother." The brunette stood up, before offering her hand to Virgil.

Virgil looked at the girl's hand and eased Alan's head from his lap laying him flat on the ground, before accepting the girl's hand to pull himself up to his feet. Upon standing up to his full height, he discovered he was a good foot taller than most of the girls. The tallest appeared to be the brunette with blue eyes, and she seemed to be a couple inches shorter than Virgil. As embarrassed as he was to show emotion in front of the girls, he didn't bother to hide the tears shining in his eyes over his injured and unconscious little brother.

"So, you lead and I'll follow with my brother?" Virgil knelt beside Alan and lifted him with the blonde and brunette girl's help onto his back into a piggy back.

"Yep, Stacy, you want to lead the way?" The teenage blonde spoke up from her place beside Virgil. She and the brunette each had a hand supporting Alan's back. The blonde girl kept looking at the blonde boy and admired how cute he was, regardless of the bloody cut on his face.

"Fine Alecia, but you are explaining this to mom and dad when they get back from their anniversary in Greece." Stacy the older brunette balked.

"Alright Stacy, I will." Alecia the teenage blonde turned to Virgil before smiling calmly at him. "So, if your little brother's name is Alan…might I ask what your name is?"

Virgil nodded, before closing his eyes to ward off the spinning. His head was killing him, and he was sure he had a concussion. Opening his eyes, he was met with five sets of worried eyes gazing with concern at him. Clearing his throat, Virgil began.

"My name is Virgil Tracy."

"Hmm, what a coincidence…our last name is Tracy also." Alecia the blonde teen gestured to all the girls that walked before them.

"You know, dad would get so mad at you for talking to total strangers." Stacy replied pointedly from the front of the pack.

"He'd get over it. Just consider these guys guests until we can figure out where they came from." Alecia rolled her eyes at the elder brunette.

"Might I ask what you're names are?" Virgil hoped he wasn't out of line by asking who his and Alan's rescuers were.

The group stopped and everybody turned to look at Virgil. At seeing the entire group of girl's keen stares at him, Virgil couldn't help but to blush. He'd had girlfriends before, but he'd never been comfortable with being ogled by the opposite sex. He was quite shy until one got to know him, and he was a bit of a recluse…at least that is what Alan and Gordon called him when they poked fun at him and his need to be alone while drawing or painting.

"Sure, we'll go in order of age. I'll start first." The older brunette spoke. "I am Stacy." She held her hand out to Virgil, dismissing the fact that Virgil was currently carrying someone on his back. Virgil leaned forward slightly, to support Alan on his back better while he stuck out a hand to shake Stacy's hand.

"It's nice to meet you Stacy." Virgil grunted out, Alan was made of pure muscle…so he was quite heavy.

"I'm next, I am Janine Tracy. But you can call me Jane." The young woman leaned forward, her bleach blonde hair slipping free from behind her ear to create a bit of a curtain. She gripped Virgil's hand firmly, before stepping away.

"It's nice to meet you Jane." Virgil smiled slightly despite wanting to groan at the dead weight of his little brother.

"Then it comes to me. I am Virginia Tracy. It's a pleasure to meet you Virgil." She didn't shake Virgil's hand as she could see he was struggling to hold up his little brother. She anxiously tucked her chestnut brown hair behind her ear as she marveled at Virgil's strength.

"Put 'er there! I am Ginny Tracy." The redhead smiled cheekily at Virgil, before stepping away. Virgil blushed when he realized the girl was wearing nothing but a bikini and sarong for clothing. As a matter of fact, all the girls were wearing only swim suits. Ginny seemed really bubbly and quite okay with her half-dressed state though.

"Then that leaves me, the best and the last! I am Alecia Tracy. Try saying that one three times fast." Alecia did a mock salute to Virgil. Her maize colored blonde hair was draped over her shoulder in an elegant braid. "Now let's get you and your brother up to the infirmary."

Virgil could only manage to nod. How was this possible? All the girls looked eerily like his late mother to a point, but none more so than Alecia. She was almost the spitting image of his late mother. The only difference was that Alecia had a natural mole by her left eye and his late mother never had a mole near her eye. His mother had a natural beauty mark where most girls got that Marilyn Monroe piercing done in the past.

Following the group of girls through the jungle, Virgil began to pick out different landmarks that Gordon or Alan had shown him. Alan was the primary explorer of the family, and he was notorious for marking the trail with little cairns to mark the trails he'd taken to get to a certain spot. It was no wonder that he never got lost, he was too careful when it came to marking his trail.

"So Virgil…where were you and your brother headed when you crash landed on our island?" Jane inquired near the front of the group.

"Oh…um…I'm…uh…afraid I can't say." Stacy who led the group stopped and turned to glare at Virgil. Cocking her hip to one side, she settled her fists on her hips.

"If you want medical treatment for you and your brother, you are going to need to be up front with us. Why were you flying that giant green monstrosity?" Stacy smirked when Virgil's mouth hung open at the insult to his bird. "I'm waiting."

"Fine, since you ladies removed our helmets and now know our identities…you can't really lynch us for being who we are." Virgil felt Alan slipping down his back and he shifted forward to bump Alan up higher on his back. Holding Alan's legs firmly in the crooks of his elbows, Virgil grunted when the quick movement made him sway slightly on his feet. "My brother and I are part of International Rescue."

The group of girls stared at Virgil like he was crazy. They looked him up and down, before shrugging. Stacy, Jane and Ginny continued walking ahead of the group, Alecia and Virginia remained by Alan and Virgil. Ginny turned her head to glance at Virgil in disbelief. Narrowing her hazel eyed gaze a little, she decided to speak.

"So what is this International Rescue that you speak of? I've never heard of it." Virgil gazed around at all the girls to see them nodding in agreement.

"How have none of you heard of International Rescue? It's a top secret organization that exclusively goes to the aid of those in precarious life or death situations, such as natural disasters or cave ins." Alecia and Virginia who were closest to Virgil raised an eye brow at his explanation of what International Rescue was.

"We've never heard of it because it doesn't exist. I don't know what you've been smoking, but you should know not to drive while buzzed." Stacy replied from the head of the group. "Who is your leader?"

"My father, Jeff Tracy." Again the group stopped and turned to look at Virgil, looks of disbelief on their faces. Jane spoke this time.

"Are you and Alan brothers of ours that we were never told about? What is your mother's name?" Jane mimicked Stacy's earlier action of placing her hands on her hips and cocking one hip to the side before tapping her pink flip-flops on the jungle floor.

"My mother's name is Lucille Tracy, why do you ask?" Virgil paused before Jane's first statement registered in his muddled mind. "I don't have any sisters that I know of. I am one of five boys, this lummox on my back being the youngest of all of us."

"Weird. Where are your parents and why would they allow you to fly such a large air craft?" Ginny spoke up, crossing her arms over her chest.

"My dad is the lead guy of International Rescue, it's a family business and we started it in honor of our mother who died giving birth to…" Virgil motioned with his head towards the unconscious young man lying on his back.

"Aw, you mean he never got to…know his mom?" Alecia pouted at the revelation.

"Nope, and he blames himself for it every day." Virgil turned his head to look at his baby brother. The bleeding was starting to clot, so that was good.

"You say you are one of five. Are you the oldest?" Virginia inquired as she kept a steady hand on Alan's back.

"No, I'm the middle child. From oldest to youngest there is Scott Tracy, John Tracy, me: Virgil Tracy, Gordon Tracy and the spider monkey on my back is Alan Tracy." Virgil bumped Alan up again when he started to slide down Virgil's back again. "Is the infirmary close by? My brother may look skinny, but he is quite the heavy weight."

"Sure it's this way. Follow us; it's not too much further." Ginny piped up from the front of the group. Virgil quickly swiped his mud encrusted wrist across his forehead and winced when he found the goose egg he'd received from the crash.

"So if you don't mind my asking, how much younger is Alan than you? He still looks like a teenager to me." Alecia inquired, ignoring the glare from Jane.

"He still looks like a teenager, because he is still one. He's nineteen. I am twenty-five." Virgil grinned at his baby brother as he relayed their age. For a nineteen year old young man, he still retained the babyish features that made girls swoon over him.

"Hey, that means the two of us are the same age, the same as you and Virginia!" Alecia giggled in amusement at the new admission.

"Yeah, I guess…"Virgil moved to shift Alan again on his back when a pop in his ribs caused him to see grey. Stumbling slightly, he felt his eyes close and nearly identical screams of _'Virgil'_ sounded off before the world went dark for Virgil. He never felt the ground, nor did he feel the added weight of his baby brother fall on top of him.


	2. Where Are They?

"Well, I think that wraps up the debrief boys." Jeff leant against his desk as he looked at his only two gathered sons. Virgil and Alan were still apparently grounded due to a storm front and John said he'd keep trying to connect with them. So far nobody had heard anything from the two MIA International Rescue operatives. "Go on, get a bite of dinner, grab a shower and get some sleep. You boys look exhausted."

Gordon and Scott nodded their heads slowly as their sleep deprived brains struggled to comprehend just what it was that their father told them. Standing slowly, they both made their way out of the lounge and headed off in the direction of the kitchen. Looks like it'd be chicken salad sandwiches for dinner. Thankfully that was something Scott and Gordon knew how to make since Tin-Tin and Kyrano had gone to bed.

Jeff remained at his desk as he pondered how long the storm would last. It was unusual for a storm to last as long as this one was, it'd been five hours since Jeff or any of his sons heard from Virgil and Alan. The last that Scott and Gordon saw of them was when they were packing up shop in Guyana after the rescue efforts had been completed. A beeping from John's portrait prompted Jeff to take the call.

"Hello John, how does everything look on the rescue front?" Jeff looked at the portrait to see John's pale white features. John's blue eyes were alight with something akin to fear. "John what is it? What's wrong?"

"_Dad, I'm afraid we've got two operatives down."_ John's voice remained shaky as he answered his dad. _"I thought they'd been grounded by a storm, but I just received a transmission from TB2. The time stamp on the call was five hours ago."_

"What are you talking about John?" Jeff looked back at John seriously; dread filling his chest as he sensed that something was terribly wrong.

"_I received a mayday from TB2. A corresponding radio transmission was placed and from what I can gather…they've crashed."_ John gazed back at his dad through the monitor.

"Please tell me you're joking! Why didn't you get the transmission until now?" Jeff's cobalt blue eyes narrowed in concern and irritation.

"_I wish I was joking father, but if you'd like I can play the emergency transmission for you."_ John sounded very apologetic. Feeling it was reason enough to call it an emergency, Jeff activated the Klaxon to bring his two exhausted sons back to the lounge.

"Wait until Scott and Gordon have arrived then you can play the transmission. If at all possible, please get a lock on their position so we can go retrieve them." Jeff pinched the bridge of his nose as he heard the thundering footsteps of Scott and Gordon racing back to the lounge.

Scott and Gordon both arrived back in record time, carrying their dinner with them. Both looked a bit more alert than they had been a few minutes earlier. Gordon approached his dad's desk, before taking a healthy bite of his sandwich. Scott was in the process of chewing what he had in his mouth and Jeff waited patiently until they'd swallowed before dropping the bombshell. Scott was the first to speak.

"What seems to be the problem dad?" Scott lifted his sandwich to take another bite, but Jeff's lifted hand stopped him from doing so. Gordon swallowed what he had in his mouth and gazed back at his dad.

"Have you heard from Virge and Al?" Gordon and Scott shared a look before sagging in disappointment at hearing their two brothers still had not been heard from.

"No boys. I have not heard from them, but…I do know that their situation is not good." Jeff began.

"Is the storm that bad that the rescuers need rescuing or something?" Scott got a somewhat cocky grin on his face which promptly fell at John's statement.

"_Well, it doesn't appear to be the storm that's holding them up. They do need rescuing, but that's because they've crashed. I can't raise them and I just received a mayday and emergency radio transmission from several hours ago according to the time stamp."_ John closed his eyes as he admitted the reason for his call. _"Dad called you two back so I could play the transmission for you lot."_

"So then play it! If they're hurt we need to get to them immediately!" Scott set his sandwich down on the paper towel he'd wrapped it in before running back to the lounge with Gordon.

"Okay." John sighed lightly. "Apparently they kept the line open whilst trying to contact Scott and Gordon's watches. This is what was recorded. Playing transmission batch number 984600. Emergency radio transmission from Thunderbird two and operatives three and five.

"_Thunderbird 2 to Thunderbird 5…do you copy over?" Alan paused as he waited for a reply. "Thunderbird 5, can you hear me? This is Alan…how do you read?"_

"_This can't be happening. Try Scott through your comm. watch." Virgil sounded irritated. "Tell him we are in the soup, I am going to need to fly lower."_

"_Okay." Alan's reply was a little shaky. "Scott, do you copy? Over?"_

"_What is it Sprout?" Scott's voice rang out loud and clear._

Scott started as he heard his own voice over the recording. He remembered that call. Hadn't that been Alan playing with his watch? Oh dear.

"_We're caught in some fog and visibility is at an all-time low. We need to fly lower. Our ETA is going to need at the very least ten extra minutes tacked onto the original estimated incoming time of arrival." Alan replied as calmly as he could._

"_Sprout? Did you say something?" Scott's voice was clear, but he'd apparently not heard what Alan said. "Alan, quit playing games…we need you to focus!"_

Scott's face fell as he realized that Alan had not been playing around. He'd been trying to contact his eldest brother to notify them of a problem and Scott couldn't hear him. Why hadn't he heard Alan?

"_Can you hear me?" Alan started to sound worried._

"_Alan, you need to speak up. I can't hear anything you're saying." Scott sounded irritated._

"_Scott, it's me Virgil! Can you hear us?" Virgil called from the main pilot's seat. "We are going to fly lower…we can't see!"_

Jeff, Scott and Gordon paled when they realized that Virgil started sounding scared just as much as Alan was. Virgil was Mr. Cool as a Cucumber, why would he be worried unless the situation truly was bad?

"_Alan, quit playing games and help Virgil pilot Thunderbird 2, call me if ya'll run into trouble. Scott out." Scott disconnected the call. Alan and Virgil could still be heard over the emergency transmission._

"_I'll try Gordo. Maybe it was just a bad connection." Virgil dialed in his watch to Gordon's frequency. _

"_Yo Virge, what's up?" Virgil gave a relieved sigh to hear his little brother's voice sounding somewhat carefree._

"_Gordo, do you read me?" Virgil sounded relieved to hear his prankster brother._

"_Virge? Did Alan get ahold of your watch? Scott's pretty raving mad over Alan playing with his watch while we're on a rescue." Gordon sounded totally confused, a growl probably from Virgil could be heard as he realized that Gordon couldn't hear him either._

"_Gordo can you hear me?" Virgil paused…waiting for reply from Gordon that he'd heard him._

"_A little word of advice Alan…quit playing with the watches. Dad will be furious when he finds out you were playing around instead of helping Virgil fly the green bug." Gordon spoke in an admonishing tone to his younger brother._

"_But we're not playing with the watches! Can't you hear us?!" Alan cried from the co-pilots seat. He didn't sound mad, he sounded scared._

"_Virgil, what is your ETA? We're waiting and dad is getting worried, you guys are late!" Gordon inquired, his voice breaking up slightly from static._

"_We are going to be a few minutes late! We are flying in the soup!" Virgil growled back into his watch. How come neither of his brothers was hearing him and Alan and why did base and Thunderbird Five not reply to their calls? A low hum could be heard over the transmission. "Holy Shit!"The transmission briefly cut out, before reconnecting._

"_We're going to need to ditch, I have no control!" Virgil cried out._

"_Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Alan screeched from beside Virgil. Both the middle and youngest Tracy sons sounded terrified. _

"_Brace for impact!" Virgil cried out, his strong voice cracking as fear took hold._

"_No!" Alan screamed out, a thunderous boom was heard before a cacophony of bangs, screeches and screaming metal was heard. Alan and Virgil continued to scream until suddenly the transmission cut out._

Jeff, Scott and Gordon shared an identical stunned look as they realized that due to equipment malfunction…they'd been virtually unable to save their brothers. Looking up at the monitor, their eyes met John's worried blue eyes.

"Where are they?" Jeff pleaded with John to give them the coordinates of TB2 so he and his sons could go rescue their two members.

"I've triangulated their signal and they've crashed onto a sand bar a couple hundred miles outside of the Florida Keys." John relayed what the coordinates were to his father and brothers.

"But John…I don't understand. Their coordinates place them…" Gordon began.

"In the Bermuda Triangle…I know." John finished Gordon's statement. "You all be careful. I want you to keep an open line with me at all times."

XXXXXXX

The next time Virgil opened his eyes, he squinted with a grunt of pain. His vision was swimming and quite frankly it was making him nauseous. Closing his eyes Virgil focused on deep breathing, but some details started making themselves known to Virgil. One of those details was that he felt cold. Biting his tongue, Virgil opened his eyes again and waited for his vision to straighten out.

He found he was in the infirmary back on his family's island. Feeling a chill run down his spine, Virgil recalled feeling cold and he lifted his blanket to see that the reason he was cold was because he was in only his boxers. His chest had ace bandage wrapped tightly around him, and it occurred to Virgil that he must have hurt his ribs.

'_Strange, I don't recall getting hurt at all in Guyana. Alan and Gordon both fell more than I did, but Alan only scraped his hand on a rock.'_ Virgil lowered his blanket back down and looked around the infirmary again.

The spacious room looked familiar, yet something about it just seemed…wrong. Turning his head to the side, Virgil found his mouth agape at the sight of his younger brother. Alan lay in the bed next to him, his eyes not visible for the bandages wrapped about his head. Virgil couldn't tear his eyes from his youngest brother's still form.

"Alan? A-Alan?" Virgil pushed the blankets away from his body and disregarded the sharp pain in his chest to creep over to Alan in the next infirmary bed. "Alan…can you hear me?"

"I'm sorry…he can't hear much of anything right now."

Virgil whirled around at the unfamiliar voice and spotted a young woman about the age of twenty nine. She was standing with her back to Virgil, gazing at a diagnostic panel situated on the wall in front of her.

"That aircraft crash really did a number on him. He's received some pretty serious wounds, I doubt he'll be waking anytime soon."

"A-Aircraft crash?" Suddenly the memories hit Virgil smack dab in the face and if it wasn't for Alan's bed being next to him, Virgil would have found himself on the floor.

"You don't remember?" The young woman finally turned around and locked eyes with Virgil, her emerald green eyes dancing playfully.

Virgil sat on Alan's infirmary bed in silence as the memories hit him. Now he remembered…he and Alan had been flying Thunderbird Two, they'd begun experiencing technical malfunctions and had been unable to contact Base or Thunderbird 5. Blinking slowly, Virgil recalled the memory of grabbing Alan's hand in his and clinging tightly to his baby brother as they both got into the crash position, just before impact. From there his memories were fuzzy at best.

"No…I remember now." Virgil shook his head to shake away the memory of crashing Thunderbird Two. "How bad is Alan hurt?"

The woman slowly approached Virgil, her mahogany colored eyebrows wrinkling as she focused on Virgil.

"Well, I ran several tests on him and he's got a contusion to the back of his head. He's received whiplash like I've never seen before and he's bruised pretty good. Thankfully there are no broken bones; however I had to sew that laceration on his face closed to make sure that he won't scar too badly." The woman stood before Virgil, before she lifted Virgil's head by placing a finger beneath his chin. "You on the other hand were a little more roughed up. You managed to fracture a rib, which ultimately led to you passing out earlier. The girls…how they did it I have no idea, managed to carry you two young men here to the infirmary."

"What are you doing here?" Virgil glanced around the room, a look of disbelief on his face.

"I live here…it's not much, but it's home." The woman helped Virgil up from his perch beside Alan's bed. "I'm Rachel by the way and you sir are going to lie back down before I sedate you. You've just be through a traumatic ordeal and you shouldn't be up and about so soon."

"Please, answer my question…what are you doing here? This is my family's private island." Virgil shook his head slowly, disregarding the dizzy feeling he caused.

"How are you related to Mr and Mrs. Tracy and their daughters?" Rachel tilted her head in question as she guided Virgil back over to his own infirmary bed.

"Mr. Tracy is my father…Jefferson Tracy, multi-billionaire and ex-astronaut." Virgil allowed himself to be escorted back over to his bed where he was forced to lie back down. "I don't understand…where are my father and my brothers?"

Rachel pulled the duvet back up over Virgil's muscular frame as she turned curious eyes back to Alan.

"Mr and Mrs. Tracy are on holiday in Greece for their anniversary and…as far as I know there are no sons. Mr and Mrs. Tracy only had five girls – unless he had an illegitimate child which I doubt for Mr. Tracy is a wonderful man and he'd never hurt the missus like that." Rachel left Virgil to go check on Alan. "Who is your mother?"

"Her name is Lucille but…" Virgil started to say but Rachel finished for him.

"She died in childbirth with this young man I am tending too?" Turning to look at Virgil she gave a small smile. "Alecia and the girls told me when I asked for some information about how they came across you two."

"Right." Virgil conceded before looking back over at his brother. "What are his chances of waking up soon?"

"Depending on how fast his body reabsorbs the blood from his contusion – I'd give it a week. But don't hold me to that, our bodies are amazing life forms and we as living breathing creatures can have the ability to bounce back from almost anything." Rachel resituated Alan's duvet. "Now sir, it is time for you to try to get some rest. No more talking or moving around or I will be forced to sedate you."

Listening to the young woman who commanded him to rest, Virgil rolled over slowly – facing his unconscious baby brother. Locking his gaze onto Alan, Virgil blinked repeatedly; making an honest effort to remain awake. Feeling his eyes droop, the last thing Virgil saw before falling asleep was Alan's steady breathing pattern and blood stained bandages on his face.

XXXXXXX

Scott piloted Thunderbird One towards the last known location where Alan and Virgil's craft went down. He gripped the yoke tightly, his hands noticeably white knuckled as the anxiety and guilt ate at him. Gordon sat beside him, chewing on a grubby thumbnail as he gazed out of the windscreen. As they approached the location, both Scott and Gordon looked around and felt their hearts sinking – Thunderbird Two couldn't have crashed here. It was just nothing but a bunch of water, water, water and more water.

"Scott, where are they?" Gordon's voice was thick with tension as he scanned the horizon for any sign that maybe they hadn't yet reached the coordinates.

"We're here…these were the coordinates that John gave us." Scott set the controls and he too stood to peer out of the windscreen – looking below the craft. In the dark of night, the waters were nothing but a murky black despite it being ocean water.

"Scott!" The eldest brother's head shot up as he heard Gordon's alarmed voice break the silence.

Following Gordon's pointing finger Scott observed that maybe a couple thousand yards away was a sandbar and there resting on the sandbar was Thunderbird Two. It lay in a crumpled heap, flipped up on top of the roof. Scott felt like the wind had been knocked out of him as he observed his third youngest brother's pride and joy smoke like it was on fire somewhere within the engine. Quickly locating a place to land Thunderbird One, both Gordon and Scott scrambled from their craft – trying to reach their brothers before anything else happened to them.

XXXXXXX

Virgil opened his eyes and looked around. He still lay on his side, facing Alan and the blonde hadn't moved an inch. His bandages were now a pristine white, but the only other difference about Alan was that he looked clean. Last time Virgil saw Alan he was covered in mud and blood. Now his hair looked cleaner, combed back from his forehead – the mud washed from Alan's face, revealing some of the spectacular bruising Alan acquired from the crash.

"Well, look who's awake."

Virgil turned his gaze towards the counter where he saw the woman with glasses and he tried to place who she was again. He knew she told him her name, but for the life of him he couldn't remember what it was.

"How are you feeling?" She strode towards him and placed a hand on Virgil's forehead to check for a fever. "Feeling any pain, dizzy, nauseous?"

"No…who are you again? Where am I?" Virgil's gaze swung around and he noticed familiar equipment. He was in the infirmary on Tracy Island, but who was this girl?

"My name is Rachel and I am your physician for the time being. What do you remember?" Rachel leaned towards Virgil and gazed into his eyes.

Virgil met Rachel's gaze head on and stumbled over his words. He remembered…that they…he and his baby brother were flying…somewhere and they crashed? Breaking eye contact with Rachel, Virgil was left to ponder the mystery. He noticed Rachel step away from his bed and move towards Alan, checking his temperature with an aural thermometer.

"How's Alan?" Virgil tried to sit up, but a white hot pain flashed in his rib cage and it nearly took Virgil's breathe away.

"Don't try to sit up, you'll only make your injuries worse." Rachel admonished. "He's doing better."

She removed the thermometer from Alan's ear when it gave a beep and looked over his temperature before stepping away to document his temperature reading on a chart which hung from the foot of his bed.

"How long have I been out?" Virgil reached up and rubbed at a sore bump on his temple.

"Two days." Rachel grabbed a pen light and made Virgil hold his eyes open so she could conduct a neuro check. "Your pupils are reacting normal, doesn't look like that spill in the jungle made you any worse for wear."

Virgil remained quiet as he thought back on what was going on. He remembered bits and pieces and his ribs hurt like a bitch, but he couldn't remember what exactly happened.

"Tell me…what do you remember Virgil?" Rachel looked at the young man who lay in his own infirmary bed with a curious eye.

"Um…I think I remember Alan and I – our equipment failed and I…I believe we crashed." Virgil thought back on it and then it hit him. "We were coming back from Guyana, headed to New Jersey because of a state of emergency, our navigation equipment went on the fritz and from there it all went to Hell in a hand basket."

Rachel nodded slowly but then tilted her head in question. "If you were headed to New Jersey from Guyana…how did you crash land here on Tracy Island? We're nowhere in between either of those two locations."

"I know, but…I don't know. Like I said – our navigation equipment failed, maybe we got turned around and were flying back home." Virgil wriggled slowly in his bed until he was sitting propped up against the pillows. "We couldn't even communicate with our dad or brothers."

XXXXXXX

"Damn it! Where in the Hell are they?!" Scott held onto some panic handles which helped him to balance on the textured ceiling of Thunderbird Two.

"Not here…but the one question I have in which I agree with you is – where are they?" Gordon stood on the ceiling of Thunderbird Two while he inspected the pilot and co-pilot's seats of Thunderbird Two. The safety harnesses were still buckled, a thermos cap of coffee lay on the ceiling by Gordon's foot while the thermos of tea rolled around.

"This is not good…this is not good at all. Where could they be? There is nobody outside, the sand bar is too small and there aren't too many places to hide." Scott joined Gordon in the crew's quarters. Both brothers were a tired and frazzled mess.

"I have no idea…maybe they were found and rescued." Gordon suggested. That earned him a glare. "What?"

"Nothing…just…nothing." Scott ran his fingers through his hair.

"Come on…we've already checked this place over with a fine tooth comb." Gordon grabbed Scott's arm and tugged lightly, trying to prompt his brother to walk back with him. He was tired and despite his worry over Virgil and Alan's disappearance, sleep won the battle. "Dad will be calling us soon; we'll want to report what we've found…or lack thereof."

Scott tensed at the mention of their failure to locate their brothers. There was no sign that Virgil and Alan had been there, except for the spilt coffee and that set Scott on edge. If they couldn't find Alan and Virgil, then they couldn't treat it like an actual missing person's case; primarily because that's not exactly the type of thing you broadcast over the news. Scott could just see it now.

"_Missing two International Rescue Operatives – last seen wearing jumpsuit with International Rescue Pin on left breast pocket and helmet. If found please contact your local authorities, however to protect the identities of the operatives we cannot reveal their names or any known information – but what we can tell you is that operative three has brown hair and brown eyes while operative five has blond hair and blue eyes."_

Scott shook his head at that notion. No matter how much they missed their brothers, they couldn't risk anybody finding out their identities. International Rescue was a top secret organization.

"Scott, you gonna answer that or should I?" Gordon's voice tore Scott from his thoughts and the eldest looked back at his second youngest brother before pressing the button on the control panel to open the connection between channels.

"Scott here." Scott answered, his face grim.

"You find them Scott?" Jeff's worried voice and the look on his face tore at Scott's heartstrings.

"We found Thunderbird Two, but…we can't find Alan or Virgil." Scott looked away, his heart feeling heavy. "They aren't here."


	3. Alternate Reality

Virgil walked into the infirmary, his arms wrapped around his midsection. Alan was still out cold. Virgil began to wonder if Alan would ever wake up. It had been three days already since he initially woke up. Three days of a silent and unmoving Alan. It'd been five days since their crash. Rachel had managed to snag a pair of her employer's pajamas for Virgil to wear around the villa so he wasn't walking around in his boxers since his jumpsuit was still dirty.

Sitting beside Alan on his bed, Virgil took him by the hand and stroked the tops of said hand. Alan thankfully wasn't on oxygen, he was just unconscious. But unconsciousness was just as bad as death to the medic, because Alan could wake up, or he may never wake up. It was just too hard to tell.

"Alan, it'd be really awesome if you'd wake up. We need to figure out how to get home. I…I knew you and Gordon shouldn't have made me watch Twilight Zone. I feel like this is all a dream. This is just too weird." Virgil squeezed Alan's hand and was surprised to feel Alan grip back. "Can you wake up for me buddy?"

Alan stirred, but didn't wake up right away. His head turned from side to side and he groaned as if in pain, before he managed to speak.

"Virge? Why can't I see you?" Alan's voice hitched in panic.

"You have bandages wrapped around your eyes. You sustained a pretty impressive laceration on your forehead that needed stitching." Virgil replied calmly, cooing slightly to placate his stressed little brother. "You're going to be okay bro."

Alan gripped onto Virgil's hand and tried to look around in vain despite having just been told that he had bandages wrapped around his eyes.

"Where are we?" Alan inquired.

"That's the thing…I don't quite know." Virgil replied, his voice sounding unsure even to Alan's ears. "It seems familiar, but not familiar."

"Enough with the riddles Virge. Do you know where we are or don't you?" Alan stated snidely.

"Um, promise you won't freak out?" Virgil inquired.

"Yes, yes, I promise. Now tell me where the hell we are!" Alan felt panic edging in on him and he wanted to know.

"We're…home. But I think we might be in another dimension." Virgil said, resignation heavy in his voice.

Alan snorted a laugh. "Right Virge, uh-huh. Sure."

"I'm telling the truth Alan." Virgil now felt foolish for telling Alan his suspicions. How else could they be on Tracy Island but be surrounded by girls – girls that were apparently the only five children of Jeff and Lucille Tracy. Hell, Lucille Tracy was alive and kicking rather than being buried six feet under after having died in childbirth with her youngest child. She was on vacation with her husband in Greece!

"I'll believe it when I see it." Alan said, under his breath. He however didn't see Virgil flinch. Alan apparently had forgotten that he'd been unable to see after the crash. Most likely the knock to the head caused Alan's vision to be temporarily blocked.

"Hello there! You're awake!" Rachel practically floated into the room and beamed at seeing her more worrisome patient actually awake and talking. "How are you feeling?"

"Virge? When did you lose all of your testosterone?" Alan tilted his head in question after having heard Rachel.

"I didn't dumbass, that's the island's resident medic – Rachel." Virgil quirked an eyebrow.

"We don't have a Rachel at home. It's just Tin-Tin…she's the only girl on Tracy Island. And she's an engineer, not a medic." Alan replied – totally confused at the news.

"I know…that's why I think we're in another dimension." Virgil stated. "Rachel confirmed that it could have happened. She said right before the girls found us, there'd been a monster storm and suddenly according to the girls, we crash landed…or more like fell like a sack of potatoes from the sky."

"I think you hit your head harder than you think Virge! There is no way that could have happened! We aren't just from a scene out of the Twilight Zone!" Alan's voice cracked thanks to the alarm he felt. "Where are you?"

"I'm here Allie." Virgil reached out and took Alan's hand.

"Where's dad?" Alan's head swung around frantically.

"Hey, hey…calm down buddy. Dad isn't here." Virgil tried to soothe Alan as best as he could.

"Where is he?" Alan asked, his voice shaking in alarm.

"Not here…he's on vacation in Greece. With mom." Virgil admitted, knowing this was only going to freak Alan out more.

"What?!" Alan cried as he feared for his brother's sanity.

XXXXXXX

Scott sank into the couch in his father's office feeling nothing but frustration and exhaustion. He and Gordon just returned after locating Thunderbird Two and returned empty handed as they were unable to locate Alan or Virgil anywhere in Thunderbird Two or anywhere on the sandbar for that matter.

"Scott, why don't you go get some sleep, I've put a hold on any rescue calls until we know where Alan and Virgil are and can get Thunderbird Two back for repairs." Jeff said as he tried figuring out if there were any hidden compartments in Thunderbird Two for Alan and Virgil to have crawled into. Of course why they would crawl into a hidden compartment within Thunderbird Two was beyond Jeff.

"I can't…it'll be impossible for me to get any sleep until I know what happened to Alan and Virgil." Scott leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. "Where in the hell could they be?"

"I don't know. Are you sure you checked everywhere?" Jeff asked again for probably the twelfth time that evening since Scott and Gordon returned.

"For the last time dad, yes! Gordon and I checked TB2 over with a fine tooth comb, we even checked the restroom onboard to see if they'd crawled there after the crash – there was absolutely nobody onboard." Scott could feel his patience beginning to slip and he was growing incredibly short with the situation. It was taking all his effort to not snap at his father and take his frustration out on the worried father.

"I was just checking Scott, there's no need to bite my head off." Jeff defended.

"I'm sorry dad." Scott apologized as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn't meaning to be short with his father, but he just couldn't figure out where Alan and Virgil may have gone.

XXXXXXX

Virgil guided Alan around the villa; his younger brother still was unable to see very good. He'd regained some vision, but it was almost like he needed glasses. Everything was blurred and foggy for the blonde. Jane had given Alan a pair of her father's pajama's like Rachel had done with Virgil and both boys just walked around in those. They felt so out of place. They were home, but not home and they continued to wrack their brains in order to figure out how they'd get home.

They'd both looked at the calendar upon entering the kitchen and groaned. It was already November 14, they'd effectively been in this alter universe for two weeks and it didn't look like they'd be able to get out for a while yet. Virgil and Alan both snuck out of the villa earlier that morning and trekked to the jungle where they'd been found and they found…nothing. Thunderbird Two was gone. Where? They didn't know but it absolutely freaked them out because that was their only mode to return home – to their home not this alter universe home.

"What are we gonna do Virge?" Alan adjusted the borrowed glasses on the bridge of his nose – thankful that Rachel had a spare pair lying around that she didn't use too often. According to some scans, the reason Alan's vision had gone down the proverbial tubes was because of the contusion to the back of his head. Apparently it was close enough to the occipital lobe of his brain that the swelling had put pressure on that part of his brain, thereby swelling around his optical nerves. As the swelling went down, Alan had slowly begun to regain his vision.

"I don't know Al…I just don't know." Virgil sat at the table as he put his head into his hands.

"Okay, mom! We'll see you then!" Stacy said sweetly into the phone as she entered the kitchen before snapping her phone shut. "Okay, we've got to figure out what to do with you two."

Virgil and Alan glanced up at Stacy as they saw her calculating look. "What?"

"I just got off the phone with my mom and she and my dad are returning the day after tomorrow from Greece. You boys had better be gone or very well hidden. My dad is not at all happy about you boys having been here for the last two weeks. My head is on the chopping block for even having allowed you two to have stayed this long – injured or not." Stacy began to chew a nail. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you two."

"Trust us, we don't know either." Virgil looked at the worried young woman as he slouched in his seat. He and Alan were effectively trapped on the island as even if they left – there'd be nowhere for them to go to get back to their proper dimension. Even Rachel believed Virgil's theory that a wormhole had to have opened when Virgil gave the approximate guess of their whereabouts when things went batty.

"_It's possible that with you two having flown through the Bermuda Triangle, maybe you two flew indirectly through a wormhole which brought you into our dimension." _Rachel sat at her work counter in the lab as she and Virgil went over figures, facts and statistics of the Bermuda Triangle and the likelihood of them having been teleported to a new dimension all together.

"What year is it?" Alan asked as he sat at the table – he was disbelieving that they were still in the same time zone.

"It's 2019." Stacy remarked as she sank down to sit beside Virgil at the table.

"I've got it!" Virginia bounded into the kitchen holding a notepad.

"What do you have?" Stacy looked up hopeful that she'd figured out a way to get Alan and Virgil a way back home so that they could just say 'gotcha!' to their mom and dad when they returned to just the girls being on the island and absolutely nobody else.

"We'll tell dad that Alan and Virgil are exchange students! You know mom has been wanting to take them on." Virginia reasoned.

"Yeah, but she wanted to take on female exchange students. The names Virgil and Alan aren't exactly feminine Virginia." Stacy dropped her head upon the table as she groaned – her little sister was a brainiac sometimes, of course other times she wondered how they could even be related. Like now.

"Shoot. I hadn't thought of that." Virginia sat beside Stacy and put her elbows on the table top.

"I kind of figured that." Stacy mumbled.

"I suppose Alan and I are just gonna have to tough it out here, I suppose we could take to living in the jungle though." Virgil scrubbed at his eyes. He couldn't believe that he could not find a way to get him and his little brother home. To their real home.

"Absolutely not!" Rachel entered the kitchen stood before the table and her patients. Alan and Virgil were still recovering from the accident, they couldn't go fend for themselves in the jungle. "If we have to, we'll tell Mr. Tracy that I wouldn't allow you two boys to leave."

Stacy hunched her shoulders in frustration. She didn't want to force Rachel to possibly lose her job over having disobeyed her father – that's why she was taking the blame. She liked Rachel and didn't want her and her sister's best friend to be exiled from the island. They were in a real pickle and hopefully their mom could cool their dad's jets before he came home. Alan stood up slowly and began to leave the kitchen, making Virgil look up.

"Al? Where are you going?" Virgil started to get up, but a hand up in the air from Alan stayed him and he knew Alan desired solitude. Knowing this was home in an indirect way, he knew where Alan was going – so he wasn't too worried.

"Where's he going?" Stacy glanced up as she noticed Alan and Virgil's silent communication.

"The south beach…it's where he goes when he wants to be alone…at least that's where he goes when we are back home." Virgil supplied as he caught Virginia's eye. She was very pretty and in a twisted outlook, Virgil couldn't help but thinking that Virginia was his female counterpart…strange – but believable considering their situation.

XXXXXXX

Alan walked out and plopped down in the sand on the south beach. Virgil was right in his assumption that was where Alan was headed. Lying back in the sand, Alan closed his eyes as he listened to the waves and surf rolling in against the beach and he soaked in the feeling of the sun warming his skin.

"Are you okay Alan?"

And the solitude was gone – just like that with the snap of a finger. Opening an eye, Alan glanced towards the source of the voice and saw Alecia standing not far from where he lay in the sand.

"I'm fine Alecia." Alan said, trying not to show his irritation at being disturbed. Closing his eye again, Alan ignored Alecia in favor of listening to the sound of the surf continue to roll in. What he hadn't expected was to feel the wisp of Alecia's skirt brush against his arm and he opened his eyes to look at her again.

"Are you upset because you can't seem to find a way home?" Alecia inquired softly, she played with a long blonde strand of hair nervously.

"No, just trying to figure out how we got here and I'm beginning to think that Virgil is right in his belief that we got here by some freak happening. I want to go home; I miss my father and my brothers." Alan said softly, knowing he was hurting Alecia's feelings. Since his and Virgil's arrival on this alter island, Alan has since found a friend in Alecia and during these last two weeks, Alan and Alecia would stay up talking through the night about things. Alecia just couldn't seem to get enough of hearing about Alan and the Thunderbirds – the way she looked at him as he described the rescues could be reminiscent of a child hearing a fairytale princess story and dreaming about one day being the princess.

"I know you do, but if you can't find a way home – what will you do?" Alecia asked as she scooted closer to Alan.

"I suppose stay here, in this world I mean. I doubt your dad would take very kindly to me and Virgil sticking around here." Alan said as he looked at the blue sky. "Maybe go to college, get back into race car driving."

"You used to race cars?" Alecia asked with a smile.

"Yeah, before I got into International Rescue I did used to race cars. I wouldn't mind getting back to that again." Alan tipped his head towards Alecia and was startled by how close she was to him. He hadn't noticed her move. Now though she was lying on her side in the sand beside him and was facing him. Both nineteen year olds gazed at each other and Alan felt his breathing quicken. Alecia initiated the kiss or tried to but Alan pulled away – not feeling comfortable essentially kissing his alter self. "I can't."

"Why?" Alecia asked with a pout. She'd developed a crush on Alan during these last two weeks and it felt right to her.

"Because, for one if Virgil is right and this is an alter universe…I would essentially be kissing my alter self and two, if Virgil and I do find a way back home – I don't want to leave you with your heart broken and you pining for a guy who you can't ever see again." Alan reasoned.

"I don't care, please just give me this. I…I." Alecia began but was cut off from her plea as she pulled Alan flush with her and kissed him full on the mouth. Alan tried to pull away from his alter self, but found himself being pulled into the kiss rather than out of the kiss. Pulling Alecia to him, Alan deepened the kiss a bit further having thrown the idea that he was kissing his alter self out the window. If he was kissing his alter self then he was just as awesome at kissing as a female then he was as a male.

Breaking the kiss in order to breath, Alan looked deeply into Alecia's eyes and felt like he was staring into her soul. It proved to him though that even if this was some strange alternate reality, Alecia had obviously fallen madly in love with him.

"Wow." Alecia said as she sucked in a breath.

"Wow." Alan replied in response to the kiss. They stayed that way for a few moments before they both leaned in again to kiss only this time they were interrupted.

"What are you two doing?" Alan and Alecia turned startled at Jane who stormed down onto the beach. "You don't even know him, how are you so sure he doesn't have a girlfriend?"

"He told me he doesn't!" Alecia turned sad eyes at Alan.

"Oh yeah? Then who is Tin-Tin?" Jane asked as she turned to glare at Alan.

"T-Tin-Tin?" Alan was shocked at hearing that name. "Where did you hear that name?"

"Virgil was talking about a Tin-Tin and how you and her are always spending time together when you are back home! " Jane grabbed Alecia by the shoulder and pulled her little sister behind her. "I don't appreciate you toying with my sister's heart. Stay away from her!"

Alan scrambled up as best as he could and called after Jane and Alecia. "She's my friend! We live on the island together because we are part of International Rescue!"

"That's not what Virgil said." Jane turned cold blue eyes to Alan before dragging Alecia with her.

Alan stood there silently as he wondered what exactly Virgil said about Tin-Tin. They weren't anything special, they were just good friends. They never fooled around – sure they kissed occasionally or would cop a feel but they hadn't done anything remotely sexual with each other. It felt too weird for that. Standing up Alan walked up the beach towards the villa to grab Virgil. He wanted to know just what his older brother had said.

XXXXXXX

Gordon walked down toward the lab where he knew Brains would be conducting experiments on little objects that had no sentimental value. Brains was working round the clock to try to develop a device that had the potential to open a wormhole and retrieve Alan and Virgil from whatever dimension they may have fallen into. They knew now with Brain's devices that Alan and Virgil no longer were within this world – thus the reason for their disappearance. The unusual glow that one of Brain's devices discovered seemed otherworldly and Brains could find no compound similar within any scientific databases. The only thing he'd found even remotely similar was from something Ethan Hawking had theorized in one of his books. The guy was amazing yet scary for even having theorized something like this could exist.

"Hey Brains! Where are ya?!" Gordon walked in the lab and found absolutely nothing or nobody there. Strange, he could have sworn when he'd talked to Brains twenty minutes ago the genius said he'd be in his lab for quite some time to come.

Not finding Brains but hoping he'd return sometime soon, Gordon found a seat on one of his work benches and sat down. He glanced at his watch for a few moments, wondering how long Brains hadn't been in the lab and was truly curious; crossing one leg over the other the twenty four year old leaned back as he waited for Brains imminent return.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Gordon sat there and played idly on it – hoping Brains wouldn't be too much longer when he had the shock of his life. He heard a loud ripping sound, literally as if someone was ripping fabric and suddenly Brains fell from some random spot within the large lab. Gordon threw his phone in the air as he jumped – tumbling onto the floor on the other side of the workbench.

There was a mutual groaning sound from both Brains and Gordon as they both had gotten the sense as well as the wind knocked out of them. Gordon was the first to sit up and he was rubbing the back of his head. Lifting his gaze up towards the ceiling, Gordon just about flipped out when he saw the literal tear in the fabric of time.

"Brains?" Gordon asked with a hint of alarm before watching the tear seal itself. Scrambling under the workbench, Gordon made his way to Brains before helping the man up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm f-fine. Thank you G-Gordon." Brains rubbed the back of his head before looking down at the device which he still held. "This s-still has some k-kinks that need to b-be worked out, but i-it will work."

"Where did you go?" Gordon rocked back onto his heels and stared at the scientist.

"S-Somewhere that Alan a-and Virgil weren't. It took f-forever for me t-to get back." Brains paused a moment and looked over his shoulder at Gordon.

"Forever? It's only been twenty five minutes since I last talked to you." Gordon glanced at his watch to see that yeah, it'd only been twenty minutes or so since he'd last talked with Brains.

"T-Twenty-five minutes?! That's preposterous! I've b-been gone for t-three months!" Brains exclaimed as he jumped up to look at a calendar. "I have only been gone for twenty-five minutes!"

Brains looked at the time stamp which he'd marked on his computer of when he was running the experiment and without a doubt, there had been twenty-five minutes that rolled by.

"Remarkable! In t-the other dimension, I w-was gone for three m-months!" Brains readjusted his glasses. "I just c-can't figure out what I a-am doing wrong!"

"What do you mean?" Gordon looked at the scientist with a wary eye.

"The dimension I w-went to…International R-Rescue didn't exist." Brains said as he informed Gordon of his findings.

"Was that all?" Gordon was interested in why there was no International Rescue. Surely things couldn't have been that different…could they?

"You m-mother was still alive." Brains revealed to the shocked young man.

"So you mean, my mother never died giving birth to Alan?" Gordon asked in amazement.

"She n-never died giving b-birth to Alan because in t-the other dimension, he n-never existed. She w-was told she couldn't h-have any more children after y-you so she and your f-father made it so s-she couldn't possibly g-get pregnant again." Brains looked crestfallen. "I'm s-sorry, Alan wasn't a p-part of that dimension."

"But how could that be? I thought if there really was an alternate reality, we all had another us somewhere." Gordon said in shock.

"We do…s-somewhere, but the a-alternate universe I went t-to Alan was never born." Brains admitted. "Your m-mother told me she a-always wanted another baby b-but doctors said it w-was life threatening should s-she have another baby and they d-didn't want to take that c-chance." Brains looked at the device and tossed it haphazardly onto his workbench. "I t-think I'm g-going about this all w-wrong. I'm g-going to bed, I'll work o-on it more in the m-morning."

With that said, Brains left the lab and Gordon standing there. Glancing at the machine briefly, Gordon shook his head before deciding he too needed to go to bed. He, Scott and their dad were going out to see if they could figure out a way to bring Thunderbird Two back to the island. It still seemed able to fly, they'd just have to get her turned up top side again.


	4. Unknown Devices

Alan and Virgil watched silently from the pool side as Tracy One came in to land. They both were rather nervous and both were relegated to the pool as the girls tried to explain to their mother and father just what happened. Rachel had gone too when it came to greeting Mr. and Mrs. Tracy back home to the island. According to Stacy their father was none too happy to hear that for the last two weeks his daughters have had two male visitors running around on the island. Luckily also according to Stacy their mother reminded her husband that if they were injured they couldn't exactly leave the island…now hopefully the parents wouldn't think their daughters crazy when they heard the theory behind their appearance.

To make things a bit more believable and so Mr. Tracy didn't blow a gasket over a couple of guys wearing his clothes – both Virgil and Alan decided to put on their International Rescue jumpsuits. Alan and Virgil were both anxious over seeing their alter reality parents…or Virgil was any way – Alan obviously hadn't known his mother to have formed an opinion on whether this alter reality Lucy would be identical or different from his real life mother. Hearing the bass voice of their father, both Alan and Virgil stood to attention as their father had taught them. Arms at their sides and standing up straight – both Alan and Virgil waited for their mother and fathers alter selves to appear.

Like the calm before the storm, it got really silent around the pool the moment Lucy and Jeff came up the steps with their daughters in tow. Both parents paused as they observed the two young men standing at attention like a couple military men and Lucy was the first to take a step towards Virgil and Alan finding herself shocked at the surprising resemblance to herself and her husband.

"Hello?" Lucy took a few more steps towards the boys.

Neither Alan nor Virgil spoke for fear that the alter Jeff would snap at them but one look at their father proved he was just as shocked at seeing Virgil and Alan as anybody was. Lucy continued walking forward and she came to a stop directly in front of Virgil and Alan and had to look up at both young men. She like her daughters stood no taller than 5'7" and Jeff, Virgil and Alan were all easily 6' or more.

"I'm Lucy; it's a pleasure to meet you two gentlemen." Lucy extended a hand to Virgil then Alan – shaking their hands with a warm smile.

"Virgil, this is my little brother Alan." Virgil accepted Lucy's hand and found a shiver coursing down his spine at the brief contact from his alternate reality mother.

"Like Virgil said, my name is Alan." The blonde paused; it felt weird to address this woman who was in all sense was his mother as a total stranger, but in truth that's all she was to Alan. "It's nice to meet you Ms. Tracy."

He'd never had the pleasure of having known his mother. She died not even an hour after his birth, according to his grandmother who'd been present at his birth – his mother was alive long enough to name him, sign his birth certificate and kiss him and his father goodbye before passing away. His father wasn't present for his birth (having been stuck in traffic and racing like a bat out of Hell to reach the hospital) – but he'd shown up just in the nick of time to say goodbye to his wife before she slipped away peacefully.

"Please call me Lucy." Lucy said as she shook Alan's hand. Alan nodded dumbly before stepping back when Jeff made to step forward. "Dear come introduce yourself."

Despite this being his alternate reality father – he was still an intimidating man and even Alan knew not to put a toe out of line here (regardless of doing so back home occasionally).

"I'm Jefferson." Jeff said as he too extended his hand to Virgil and Alan. "Pleasure to meet you boys."

"Like wise to you too sir." Virgil replied, having gone into what Scott often referred to as "At Ease".

"So my daughters were telling Lucy and myself that you boys aren't from around here?" Jeff cut to the chase.

"Yes sir." Virgil responded immediately. "Rachel and I have theorized that my brother and I may be from an alternate reality."

"What do you mean by may be from? You aren't sure?" Jeff probed.

"Exactly sir. The craft my brother and I were flying in has disappeared and we woke up on the island – but the inhabitants are completely different than we'd expected." Virgil admitted.

"How do you mean Virgil?" Jeff spoke directly to Virgil this time rather than both boys.

"We crash landed on Tracy Island, but when my brother and I initially lost all control to our air craft – we were nowhere near Tracy Island. We were flying through the Bermuda Triangle when things went south and the next thing we knew…we – my brother and I woke up on Tracy Island surrounded by your daughters who'd discovered us in the jungle." Virgil informed the man he'd normally call father. "When my craft disappeared, that raised red flags with me because it shouldn't have just disappeared into thin air. It weighs several hundred tons and would be too heavy to move using normal means."

"I see." Jeff spoke, only just now taking notice of Alan staring at Lucy like she was the most beautiful creature on the face of the planet. "Please quit leering at my wife."

Jeff put extra emphasis on my and wife to stake a claim over the woman and watched Alan's gaze which continued to linger on the woman soften. Heaving a great sigh, Jeff directed his attention to Alan.

"Why do you insist on staring at my wife?"

Alan snapped out of his reverie and looked at Jeff only to notice his disgruntled look.

Alan tried to speak but nothing coherent would come out. Dumbly Alan spoke and instantly wished he hadn't.

"I'm sorry, but she's just so beautiful…" Alan spoke before realizing his mistake. "I'm sorry I didn't mean that the way it came out."

Jeff's face darkened slightly but Lucy intervened.

"As Rachel was telling us dear, these boys might be from an alternate reality, perhaps I just look like someone familiar to him." Lucy smoothed the waters before smiling at Alan. "Why don't we head on up to the house, that flight in just exhausted me and this heat isn't doing me any favors."

"Okay." The group agreed – Lucy extending the invite to Alan and Virgil to enter the house and sit in the living room with them where they could continue their discussion at length.

XXXXXXX

Gordon found himself hanging around the lab more and more as Brains continued to fiddle with the device he'd created to travel dimensions. At one point he wondered if Brains would ever get it figured out. He missed Alan and Virgil, they'd both been missing for the last two weeks and he just wanted them home.

"I d-don't know why I c-can't figure this out Gordon." Brains dropped the device onto the table top with despair. "W-What am I doing w-wrong?"

"Keep trying Brains, we've got to get this figured out."

XXXXXXX

Alan walked along the beach with Lucy, finally used to being in her presence. He and Virgil had been in this dimension for several months now and Mr and Mrs. Tracy had welcomed the two boys into their home and let them have the guest rooms upstairs.

"You know you've never answered my question Alan." Lucy walked slowly beside the young blonde man.

"Hmm?" Alan looked at the older woman and could finally see the resemblance his father often talked about between him and his mother. They looked eerily similar to each other and Alan wondered what it would have been like to know his real life mother. Was she as nice as this Lucy? Was she this beautiful? Was she anything like her daughters in this reality compared to the other reality?

"You've never once talked about your mother in all the time I've known you. Do you think she misses you and your brother?" Lucy stopped to sit in the sand making Alan sit with her.

"To be honest…I don't know." Alan directed his gaze at the sand as he started to lump it up. "She died when I was born, so…if she misses me, honestly I wouldn't know."

"Oh Alan…I'm sorry for bringing it up." Lucy gazed sadly at Alan, wishing she could do something for the young man who sat in front of her.

"It's okay, I've lived without her for nineteen years – it's nothing." Alan said as he brushed it off. He had gotten used to it. It was just him, his father and brothers against the world. Always had – no doubt it always would be just them.

"That's not okay. A boy needs his mom." Lucy said as she looked at the boy she'd grown attached to. Alan helped her in the kitchen when she was making dinner and he'd been the one that loved to help her bake. He and Alecia both. The two of them had grown especially close in the months since Alan and Virgil had arrived and often times Lucy or Jeff would find Virgil and Alan sat up at night with all the girls out on the patio talking about anything and all things. "What was her name?"

"Lucy." Alan looked at this dimension's Lucy and gave her a small smile. "Her name was Lucy."

"Your mother and I shared the same name?" Lucy was shocked, she wasn't at all aware of Alan and Virgil's assumptions that she and her Jeff were the boys' alternate reality parents.

"Well yeah…she's you." Alan said, knowing he was breaking his promise he'd made to Virgil one of those nights that they'd stayed up with the girls. The seven of them had all promised to keep their theory that Jeff and Lucy were their parents in an alternate reality, so as to not make the parents feel like the two boys needed to be committed to a loony bin.

"What makes you say that?" Lucy just looked at Alan, confusion clear on her face.

"Because you and my mother are identical to each other. Like identical twins…" Alan paused a moment as he realized he had his wallet with him. "And, don't freak out…but Jeff – is also my dad in the alternate universe…you and he are mine and Virgil's parents in the reality that we come from. I have a picture of them on their wedding day… let me show you."

Alan pulled out his wallet and opened it, before removing a picture of his mom and dad on their wedding day. They were several years younger, but definitely Jeff and Lucy.

"Here." Alan handed Lucy his mom and dad's wedding picture and looked back out at the sea.

Lucy looked at the picture and her breath caught. She remembered having this picture taken, but she hadn't liked how it looked and decided to scrap them for a different picture all together. Looking up at Alan, she looked at the picture of Lucy and Jeff again before looking at Alan once more. Holding the picture to her heart, Lucy leaned over and hugged Alan.

"You know I always wanted a son. I'm happy I have five girls, but I do wish I'd had a son also." Lucy released Alan so he could crab walk back towards her and when he was closer, she pulled him to her once more. "If it's not too strange of a request…because I am essentially your mother – could you please begin calling me mom?"

Alan was shocked also but he'd nodded. He always thought it felt weird to call his mom Lucy and his dad Jeff or Mr. Tracy. "Thanks…mom."

"No problem Alan. No problem at all." Lucy continued to hold Alan close to her, hugging him warmly and for the first time – Alan wondered if this was what it felt like to encounter a mother's embrace.

XXXXXXX

Jeff stood in his office, gazing out at the beach where he knew Lucy and Alan had gone. He could see them, Lucy sitting with Alan pulled to her chest. He'd seen Alan dig something out of his back pocket before giving it to Lucy and he'd seen her embrace him. He wondered what they were talking about, but decided it was none of his business for the time being. Alan and Virgil had gained his trust and he felt happy to have them there with him and his girls.

He felt comfortable leaving Lucy and the girls alone on the island with Alan and Virgil – trusting them to protect his seven angels…he considered Rachel to be something of a daughter to him as well as she'd been a close friend to Stacy and Janine when they'd been in high school before their subsequent move to the island. When Rachel called once to say she missed her friends, Jeff and Lucy extended the offer to her and she'd been at the airport ready for Jeff to fly in and collect her at a moment's notice. So yeah, she was also one of his daughters.

He'd ask Lucy when she came back up what she and Alan had talked about. However he doubted she'd tell him. She liked to keep her little secrets and though it annoyed Jeff to no end, he respected her privacy.

XXXXXXX

"Damn it!" Brains grunted as he'd been shocked for about the millionth time while trying to work on the device to help him travel to different dimensions. Alan and Virgil were no closer to getting home and it was frustrating Brains to no end. Alan and Virgil had already been lost in another dimension for a month and it looked like Brains was no closer to bringing them back any time soon. In a rare display of frustration, Brains threw the device in his hand across the room.

The device flew through the room and slammed into the mirror that had been placed there near the sink. However, the mirror never shattered, instead the device flew into the mirror and disappeared. Brains buried his head in his hands and sat with his elbows on the table top in frustration.

"Hey Brains! It's chow time!" Scott called from the top of the stairs, startling Brains slightly. The genius lifted his head to answer Scott and he stood before leaving the room.

XXXXXXX

Alan and Alecia stood in the living room singing into the microphones since it was the sister's weekly karaoke night. The girls loved to sing and they'd gotten Alan and Virgil in on it on several occasions. Now Alan allowed Alecia to pick the song and she decided to choose "_I've had the time of my life' _from Dirty Dancing. Everyone was in their pajamas and was sat around in the living room cheering for the other as they sang. Lucy and Jeff sat on one of the love seats smiling and clapping in rhythm to the song while Alan and Alecia sang and danced.

When Alan and Alecia's song ended, they both smiled at each other as the family began cheering and clapping for the performance.

"Great job kids." Jeff said warmly as he looked at his daughter and alternate reality son. Lucy had explained to him that Virgil and Alan were their sons in another reality and Jeff had accepted it when Lucy told him she'd asked Alan to call her mom. After being told, he'd sat Virgil and Alan down together and asked the same of them both to call him dad. "So who's next?"

"I nominate Mom and Virgil!" Virginia said as she elected her alter self and her mother. She'd heard them sing together and their voices harmonized well.

"Okay…" Lucy stood up and accepted the microphone from Alan. She brushed a kiss on his forehead as she stood beside Virgil.

"So what song do you want to sing mom?" Virgil asked as he looked through a list of songs.

"How about Safe and Sound?" Lucy looked at the list and she glanced at Virgil before seeing him nod. Selecting the song, Virgil and Lucy found the rhythm and beat before following the words on the screen. They sang, the rest of the family swaying to the soft melody and to Virgil and Lucy's voices singing the song.

When the song finished, Virgil and Lucy received a standing ovation from the family. Virgil bowed and he held Lucy's hand as she did a curtsy. Together the two of them began to return to their seats before Lucy stopped them. "Okay everybody…I have something I need to say!"

Everybody got quiet so Lucy could talk. She faced Alan and she set her microphone down before going to kneel before both Alan and Alecia.

"Today is a double special day for two of our island's residents." Lucy grabbed Alan and Alecia's hands and pulled them to stand beside her. She stood between the two – still holding their hands. "Today, twenty years ago, I gave birth to one of the most special girls in my life and not only that but on this day my son was also born. Happy 20th birthday Alan and Alecia." Lucy gave both Alan and Alecia hugs and a kiss on the cheek.

"Happy birthday Alan! Happy Birthday Alecia!" Everybody in the room cheered. Jeff stood up and hugged the both of them also.

"Happy birthday kids." Jeff ruffled Alan's hair and palmed Alecia's cheek tenderly as he wished them both a happy birthday. "Here's a present for you both."

Alan and Alecia both looked at the individually wrapped boxes Jeff held. In one hand, Jeff held a bright red packaged box and in the other he held a blue box…both Alan and Alecia knew whose box was whose. Alecia adored the color blue whilst Alan like the color red and they each grabbed their color designated box and opened them. Inside Alan and Alecia's boxes were similar gifts. They each were necklaces that read the name '_Tracy_'.

"Thanks dad." Alan and Alecia said simultaneously. They both laughed when they realized they'd spoke at the same time and together the two of them hugged Jeff and Lucy. "Thanks Mom."

Alan and Alecia helped each other put on their respective necklaces and had just sat down to eat dinner when a loud boom was heard. Everyone at the table jumped and looked around.

"Strange, we don't ever get thunder at this time of year." Rachel said as she lifted her drinking glass and sipped at her water.

"I don't think that was thunder." Virgil said suspiciously. "It sounded like something fell somewhere in the villa."

"I'm going to go check it out." Alan said as he stood. Alecia joined him and held his hand, not wanting to be separated from her best friend. The two of them left the dining room and walked down into Rachel's lab where Alan thought he'd heard the boom. When they'd gotten to the lab, Alan and Alecia both stood in shock at the sight of Rachel's lab. It looked like a tornado had ripped through it. Bookcases had fallen over, equipment was strewn around and it just looked like a huge mess. "What the…?

"What happened to my lab?!" Rachel screeched when she'd walked in having followed Alan and Alecia when she noticed them go down the stairs.

"I swear, it was like this when we got here Rachel." Alan turned around and looked at the young woman with terror on his face.

"What happened?" Rachel walked into the lab, her eyes as wide a saucers.

"I don't know, it was like this when we got down here." Alecia said. "We'll help you get it straightened up."

Alan and Alecia began picking stuff up and organizing the knickknacks and various items in places they thought they belonged. "What's this?"

Alecia and Rachel paused at Alan's question and walked over to look at a device which he held. Flipping the device over, Alan tried to discern what it was and looked at it in puzzled amazement that he'd never seen it before.

"Did you build that Rachel?" Alecia inquired as she leaned over Alan's shoulder to look at the device.

"No, I've never seen this thing before in my life." Rachel said as she looked at the device. "I wonder what it is?"

Alan and Alecia both nodded silently Neither of them was really too concerned with cleaning up the lab anymore, they were more curious over the device and just what exactly it does. Rachel shook her head before leaving the lab in the precarious state that it had fallen into and she'd brought Alan and Alecia along so they could show it to the family. Whatever this device was, it appeared to show up in the same manner as Alan and Virgil had.

XXXXXXX

"D-Damn it all!" Brains growled as he tore his office to pieces looking for the device which he'd thrown in an uncharacteristic display of frustration. He couldn't find it. How was he supposed to get Alan and Virgil back when he didn't have the device to retrieve them? It'd taken a month and a day to create that device and get it working the way it did and now it was gone. He had wanted to try to get Alan and Virgil back here soon, but now because he couldn't find the device – he was being forced to create a new one. This one like it's predecessor would take another month to build and Brains felt like they were running out of time when it came to retrieving Alan and Virgil.

"What's going on Brains?" John asked as he walked down into the lab. He'd insisted on coming home to be of some help to International Rescue since they were down two operatives.

"I can't f-find the device I'd b-built. It's gone!" Brains dropped onto his knees to look under tables and shelves in hopes maybe it'd fallen into a dark corner somewhere.

"I can help you look for it…have you retraced your steps at all?" John picked up some papers and looked under them, not knowing how big this device was.

"I w-was at my work table, I-I was trying to adjust it s-so that I could go to a-another dimension when i-it shocked me." Brains explained as he closed his eyes, going over his actions the night before in hopes that he'd remember where he'd put it.

"What happened next?" John asked, hoping that having Brains talk out his retrace that he'd have an A HA moment and would remember where the device had gone.

"I was f-frustrated that the machine was taking s-so long in helping me find Alan a-and Virgil…it's been malfunctioning a-a lot recently and I t-threw it when I'd gotten fed u-up. I threw it…oh no." Brains faced the direction he'd been standing when he threw the device and realized that a mirror was in the direct path of where he'd thrown the device. The mirror wasn't broken…but the device was gone. Somehow it'd transported itself and now it was lost in whatever dimension it'd gone into.

"Oh no? What do you mean?" John looked at Brains and the mirror not coming to the conclusion that Brains had come to.

"It m-must have gone into a-another dimension…d-damn it!" Brains bit his knuckle when he realized his mistake. "I d-didn't shut it o-off! When I t-threw it, it must h-have hit the m-mirror just right a-and transported into the w-world of the looking glass."

John walked over and touched the mirror, finding it solid. "How in the world."

"I d-don't know…but n-now I have to b-build another one." Brains lamented.

XXXXXXX

"What the hell is it?" Stacy asked.

"Stacy Cassandra Tracy, you'd better wash your mouth out." Jeff commented after hearing his darling daughter swear.

"Sorry dad." Stacy apologized as she continued looking at the device.

"But seriously…what is it?" Jane asked as she picked up the device and turned it this way and that to try to figure out just what it was.

"We don't know." Alan said as he was curled up on the couch with Alecia leaning into his side. Honestly if the two of them got any closer they'd practically be Siamese twins. "We found it laying in Rachel lab amongst all her equipment and research."

"Can I see it?" Virgil asked as he held his hand out to take it from Jane.

"Sure." Jane handed it over to Virgil before curling up in the armchair she shared with Stacy. Both sisters were tiny enough to share a seat and they both quite liked arguing over the quilt which they had draped over their legs.

"Oh my god…I know what this is!" Virgil said after a few minutes of analyzing the device. "This is something Brains has been working on as his thesis for so he could get his doctorate."

"You mean he's still not smart enough so he's still in college?" Alan asked, he wasn't aware that Brains was still in college. The guy was almost thirty – what was he…some professional college student?

"No Alan…I mean yes he's still in college, but he's been working on his doctorate for the last seven years…since he was twenty one. It's not that easy. But this is a device he's made blueprints for…it was originally meant to be something like a time machine but he hasn't been able to figure out the logarithms to jump the span of time possibly prevent something from happening." Virgil said.

"Like…mom's death?" Alan asked as he looked at his big brother sadly. Why else would Brains have been working so hard on this little device and why would Virgil know so much about unless he had been helping Brains with it so that maybe he could go back and stop their mother from dying.

"No, because to stop mom's death would have meant preventing you from being born. You're my little brother Al…as much as I miss mom, I couldn't exchange her life for yours." Virgil said as he gathered Alan's line of thinking. "No, Brains was hoping to go back several decades and try to stop the economic crash of the 1900s, prevent the US from going bankrupt and to stop various happenings like WWII and the Korean war…as well as the attack of 9/11. He became an orphan because of the war, why do you think he's always so apt to please dad? It's because he took him in when no one else would."

"I didn't know that." Alan said as he slumped down.

"Brain's mom and dad were both working in the twin towers – when they imploded. Brains was eighteen…he was a senior in high school and dad knew his father – quite well actually. You were only nine at the time and dad kept you at grandmas. But Brain's came to live with us until he graduated, then he went to London for University. In a way, Brains is kind of like another son for dad…that's why Brains refers to dad as Mr. Tracy rather than his first name, it's because his parent always taught him to treat his elders with respect."


	5. Down The Rabbit Hole and Back Again

Virgil and Alan went down with the rest of the Tracy family to help Rachel with cleaning up her lab and they'd brought the device down with them, setting it beside the mirror which stood next to the counter. As they continued working, it went unnoticed by the entire clan that the device mysteriously disappeared.

XXXXXXX

Brain's stood in his lab, in the process of constructing another device to replace the original which had disappeared entirely. He was so focused that he never noticed something appear out of thin air behind him. It wasn't until he went to the sink to go wash his hands of the compound glue which he'd used to connect some piece together that he saw the device sitting innocently in a place that it hadn't been when he'd looked previously. Shaking his head, Brains tried to understand how something that wasn't there could be there again after it had apparently jumped dimensions. Testing a theory out, Brains called John down, since he was the only one of the Tracy's that was even aware of the device having apparently disappearing through the mirror.

"Hey Brains, what'd you need me for?" John came down the stairs and looked at his friend with a raised eyebrow.

"I needed y-you here to be able to v-vouch for my sanity." Brains said, his face noticeably pale.

"Why?" John looked at his friend questioningly.

"B-Because what I'm about t-to do is going to l-label me as insane." Brains said as he clutched at the device which he still held tightly to.

"What are you going to do?" John started feeling wary. He feared Brains was going to do something stupid.

"Initiate a-another test, and try t-to bring them h-home." Brains said as he activated the device and ran towards the floor length mirror.

"Brain's no!" John yelled before watching Brains disappear into the mirror. "What just…"

XXXXXXX

Alan and Virgil sit on the couch with the girls. The boys had managed to convince the girls to sit down and watch the Twilight Zone movie and Alecia and Virginia held onto Virgil and Alan respectively while Ginny lay on her stomach on the floor staring entranced at the screen. Stacy and Jane were again curled up together in the oversized armchair. Several more months had passed since the discovery of that strange device which nobody was able to find since they'd turned their backs on it while helping to straighten up Rachel's lab.

Alecia paused the movie at some point making Alan and Virgil groan.

"Come on, it was getting good!" Alan moaned.

"I'll be right back. Chill." Alecia left the room for a few moments before she returned. "Happy Halloween!"

"Candy!" Ginny squealed as Alecia set a little goodie bag in front of her.

"Is it already Halloween? Seriously?" Virgil asked as he accepted his goodie bag from Alecia.

"Yeppers! And you know what else it is today?" Alecia said as she reclaimed her seat beside Alan.

"It's the one year anniversary since you boys showed up." Virginia said as she caught on. "Wow, it's been a while."

"A year? It doesn't even feel like it's been a year in all honestly." Alan said as he dug into his candy. "Let's put the movie back on please!

Alecia hit the resume button and the eight of them continued watching the movie until like several months ago a loud bang startled all of them. Alecia screamed and latched onto Alan's arm just like Virginia did to Virgil.

"Not again." Rachel said as she groaned when she realized that like last time the bang came from downstairs where her lab was located.

"Let's go down together. Stacy said, wrapping the quilt around her and Jane's shoulders. Just because they were adult women didn't mean they weren't frightened out of the gourd right now.

"Okay." Virgil said as he stood, allowing Virginia and Ginny both to cling to him as Alan and Alecia held hands. Alan and Alecia lead the way as they were closer to the stairs and as they crept down the stairs, they all stiffened as they could hear a scuffling sound from down below. Alan pushed Alecia behind him, but continued holding her hand and continued on down.

The entire group startled and let out a combined scream when whomever or whatever had grabbed Jane's shoulder making her scream first. Alan rounded and punched into the darkness when Jane latched onto him in her fright. An 'oof' was heard before whatever Alan had hit crumbled to the floor in a heap. Stacy turned on the light in the lab and for the first time they saw just who had grabbed Jane.

"Brains?!" Virgil released Ginny and Virginia to kneel beside his fallen friend. "Jeez Alan did you have to clock him so hard? He's already got a shiner and you broke his glasses."

"Not my fault that he scared us." Alan said in defense as he held Jane close, Alecia comforting her terrified older sister.

"Yeah, but he's likely to be out for the count for a while." Virgil said as he turned his friends head to the side to inspect the quickly forming bruise around his eye. "You sure clocked him good."

"I apologize already!" Alan said. "How did Brains get here?"

"He must have used that device." Ginny pointed at a familiar device which none of them had seen for several months.

"He created a device that could jump dimensions." Virgil said in a moment of awe. "He modified the time machine to be able to jump across dimension and alter realities."

"So what happens now?" Alecia asked as she looked between Virgil, Alan and the unconscious Brains.

"Nothing, not until he wakes up and we can ask him about this device." Virgil said as he picked up the device and inspected it thoroughly. "Alan, give me hand so we can get him to the infirmary. I want to make sure you didn't break his cheekbone or his eye socket."

XXXXXXX

"And then he just disappeared into the mirror! How do we get him back?!" John explained hurriedly to his family.

"He's done this before John. I don't see a big deal." Gordon said offhandedly, having been there for a number of experiments to time how long Brain's was gone for. Usually he was only gone for an hour at most, but now he had been gone for the last five hours. No telling how many days or months he'd been in whatever realm he was in currently. Apparently from everything Brains documented, he resided in the other realm for days sometimes months at a time when barely anytime in this world has passed.

"But how do we get him back?" John asked as he touched the mirror again, hoping that he could slip through like Brains had done and retrieve his friend from whatever world he'd gone to.

"He'll come back when he can…time passes differently in the other realms." Gordon said as he revealed information that only he and Brains were privy to.

"I sure hope you're right Gordon." John said as he looked pleadingly at his family.

XXXXXXX

Alan sat beside Brain's infirmary bed waiting for the family genius to awaken. He'd been unconscious for the last twelve hours. Apparently from what Rachel and Virgil both said after looking at him, it would appear that he hadn't been sleeping. Virgil gazed at his friend and pointed out to Alan during the exam that Brains had dark circles under his eyes and his clothes looked rumpled – as if he seriously hadn't slept in ages.

"I hope you wake up sometime soon Brains, it'd be really nice to know what's been going on back home this past year." Alan said softly before leaving to go get breakfast. He and Lucy had plans to go down to the beach with the other girls and just spend it in the sun while Jeff worked. Virgil was insistent that he monitor Brains to make sure he was okay after Alan sucker punched him the night before.

XXXXXXX

When Brains did wake up finally after being out for thirteen hours easily, he came awake with a groan and slurred speech.

"Wha happn'ed?" Brains sat up and put a hand to his head as he tried to orient himself in the familiar territory. "How d-did I get in the i-infirmary?"

"Hey you're awake." Virgil said as he looked up from the sketch pad that Virginia gave him. The both of them shared the passion for drawing so Virginia had plenty of unused sketchbooks lying around.

"V-Virgil?" Brain's eyes popped open and even without his glasses he could tell he was looking at his friend. "It's really you!"

Virgil had been close enough to the bed that he found the sketchbook and pencils on the floor as Brains hugged him tightly.

"Has it really been that lonely this last year without me and Alan, Brains?" Virgil asked as he tentatively returned the hug to his friend.

"A y-year?! No! It's b-been only a month s-since you and Alan d-disappeared." Brains pulled away before hugging Virgil again. The meek scientist had one hell of an anaconda like squeeze in those boney arms of his.

"Brains…I can't breathe…" Virgil said to make Brains release him from the boa constrictor like hold. "Has it really only been a month since Alan and I have disappeared?"

"Y-Yes! We couldn't f-find you anywhere and we've a-all been working tirelessly t-to find you!" Brains said as he eased back in the bed. "Have we gone home already?"

"No, we're still in the alter reality. Alan's down on the beach with mom and the girls and dad's in his office at work." Virgil said.

"M-mom? You m-mean Lucy is alive i-in this world?" Brains was astounded.

"Yeah, she and dad had a couple of daughters rather than sons and they are both very happy together." Virgil said. "How did you get here?"

"I u-used my dimension t-transporter." Brains looked around for it in alarm.

"You mean this?" Virgil held up the device for Brains to see.

"Yes!" Brains grappled onto it and held it close to his chest, afraid that it would disappear again if he let go of it. 'We c-can use t-this to go home!"

"Really, that's great!" Virgil smiled at his friend, happy that they'd finally found a way to return home – to their home. "Come on, let's go tell Alan!"

Virgil pulled Brains along until Brains put up resistance.

"I d-don't know if it can s-support the three of us t-though! I've only ever t-tried it by myself. It m-may allow only one of us to r-return." Brains broke the bad news. He hoped it could transport the three of them, but he wasn't holding his breath.

"We'll have to try Brains…Alan and I…we miss you guys and dad. This place is cool and all, but it's not our true home!" Virgil begged the scientist to consider giving it a go with the three of them.

"That w-we will Virgil." Brains said as he continued to allow Virgil to lead him from the infirmary.

XXXXXXX

John looked over Brain's schematics tirelessly as he tried to figure out how to put the device together in order to create another transporter. He however was a mathematician and logical thinker, he didn't understand the intricate workings of this device. That was Virgil and Alan's cup of tea.

"John, it's time to go to bed." Jeff came down the stairs already dressed for bed.

"I can't dad. We need to get Brains back." John said as he tried to make sense of the schematic.

"John, do I need to get Scott to drag you to bed?" Jeff asked, being genuine. Scott would gladly drag his younger brother to bed and he'd guard the door to ensure his brother actually got some sleep.

"No, I'll go." John said as he turned out the light. There was no way he was getting very far when it came to recreating the device Brains had built. John barely understood the schematics and based on his luck, he likely create not a dimension transporter but possibly a huge cataclysmic time bomb which could destroy the world and everything in it. No, he'd leave the scientific mumbo jumbo to his two engineering brothers and Brains.

XXXXXXX

"So you mean you think you've got a way to return us back home?" Alan sat amongst the ladies of the island, gathering sun.

"You're leaving?!" Alecia said with a pout. She really liked Alan, she didn't want him to leave.

"It looks like the device has just enough battery power to get us home, but then I don't think it will be able to continue jumps between spans of time. This will likely be the last time." Virgil said as he relieved Brains from having to explain it with his stutter.

"But you can't leave!" Alecia felt like she was missing her best friend.

"We don't belong here Leash, you know that. I told you several months ago that we'd possibly leave." Alan said as he put an arm around Alecia's shoulder. She however stood and stormed away. "Leash!"

"Let her go Alan…she needs to get it out of her system." Stacy said wisely keeping a tight grip on the man that seemed like a brother and friend to them all.

"When are you planning to leave Alan?" Lucy looked up at him from where she lay in the sand, a novel open face down on her knee.

Alan turned to look at Virgil and Brains, the both of them sharing a look before Brains spoke up.

"T-Tonight." Brains said before turning to head back up to the villa to make sure the device was in proper working order.

Alan and the ladies stilled, shocked to hear the news. Really when Virgil had brought Brains down to the beach, none of them had been anticipating that Alan and Virgil might be departing so soon. Alan looked at Lucy with sadness and longing and Virgil could see it as he too felt it. Neither of them wanted to leave yet, if at all. Both Alan and Virgil spent a whole year with their mother and both got to rebuild or in Alan's case, build a relationship with their mother. True she was an alter universe mother, but she was still their mother.

"Well, if Alan and Virgil must leave this evening, we'd better get things ready." Lucy said as she smiled sadly at Alan and Virgil. "Ginny dear, would you go let your father know that he needs to wrap up work and come spend some time with the family?"

"Yes mom." Ginny stood up, adjusting her sarong before she left the beach to head up to the villa.

"I'm gonna go see if I can find Alecia. I need to apologize to her." Alan said as he turned to leave.

"You haven't done anything Alan." Stacy said, knowing that Alecia was just hurt because her best friend was leaving. She as the eldest sister had watched Alan and Alecia bond and she'd been amazed at the relationship built between the two. They acted like twins, finishing each other's sentences, sharing drinks or eating off the same utensil…Alan and Alecia both even liked to go lounge on the South beach when they usually desired solitude – together. If they wanted silence, the other just remained silent, but they always went down together. It was almost as if they were half of a whole. They were the yin to the other's yang and if Stacy had to admit it, it was the same with Virgil and Virginia. They too had bonded over similar interests and it made Stacy wonder if she had a male counterpart. She was sure she did, if Virgil and Alan were Alecia and Virginia's male counterparts, perhaps Alan and Virgil's other brothers were her sister's counterparts?

"I know, but I should still go apologize." Alan jogged away down the beach in the direction that Alecia had stormed off in.

XXXXXXX

Alecia paced angrily on the south beach, she growled when Alan showed up on the beach but remained silent. Alan slowly approached her, knowing that when she was seething, she could have a scary temper.

"Leash?" Alan asked timidly.

"My name isn't Leash, it's Alecia." Alecia said vehemently.

"Alecia, please…" Alan said softly.

"Don't! Don't! Just leave me alone Alan." Alecia walked away, keeping her arms wrapped around her waist as she ducked her head.

"Alecia, I can't do that. I'm sorry, but we need to make up." Alan said as he turned Alecia around and pulled her in for a hug.

"Let me go!" Alecia growled.

"No, because if we don't hash this out now…then when I leave this evening, I'll feel bad for hurting you." Alan continued to hug Alecia.

"Tonight? Why are you leaving tonight?" Alecia pulled away to look at her best friend.

"Because Brains feels we need to return to our dimension." Alan said quietly. "Trust me if I didn't have to return…I wouldn't. I've had the time of my life being here with you all. I finally feel complete. I mean, I finally got to fulfill one of my biggest dreams and I got to meet my mom and build the type of relationship that each of my brothers got with her. I met one hell of a woman and I love her to pieces." Alan said as he tightened the hug.

Alecia had begun crying by this time and she'd clung to Alan. She didn't want him to leave. He had become her whole world. She looked forward to hanging out with him, true they hadn't kissed since that one time, but she'd fallen for Alan. She knew that what Alan said about him being her male counterpart was likely to be true but she didn't care. Just because they were the opposite gender of themselves in another dimension didn't make them the other's sibling. They were still themselves, just in different gendered bodies.

"Please don't cry. Just remember all the time we got to spend with each other. That made you happy didn't it?" Alan asked as he hugged Alecia warmly. She nodded sadly. "Anytime you become sad, just think of the time we spent together and it'll cheer you up."

Alecia and Alan continued to hug until Alecia's tears had dried. When Alecia had pulled herself together, Alan pulled out his phone and took a picture of him and Alecia together. He wanted to always remember Alecia. This last year had been one heck of a ride and he wished that it wasn't ending.

"Can you send that to me in a picture text Alan?" Alecia asked sadly.

"Sure." Alan sent the picture to Alecia and smiled when she pulled her phone out of her bikini top to see that she'd received the picture. "What are you doing?"

"I'm making this my wallpaper so I can always see your face." Alecia said as she sent a watery smile Alan's way. "Please don't forget me."

"I could never forget you. Who knows, maybe one day we'll figure out a way to open a doorway between dimensions so we can visit each other regularly. You never know." Alan suggested slightly.

"Yeah maybe." Alecia said softly. She was still hurt that Alan and Virgil were leaving, but maybe Alan was right. Maybe one day they'd see each other again.

XXXXXXX

Alan and Virgil were brought out onto the patio, blindfolds in place being led by their respective counterparts. Brains stood off to the side, he'd brought the mirror from the lab outside into an open space so Rachel's lab wasn't destroyed each time the tear in the fabric of time appeared. Rachel was pretty thankful for that and Brains himself was fascinated to see that his female counterpart Rachel was nothing like he was. She wasn't timid like he was, nor did she have the stutter which he found so annoying – she was smart, pretty and actually very knowledgeable.

"What's going on?" Virgil asked as he held Virginia's hand gently.

"You'll see." Virginia tittered before she and Alecia made Alan and Virgil sit down side by side.

After Alan and Virgil were seated Alecia and Virginia stepped around behind both young men and removed the blindfolds as everybody joined in.

"Surprise!"

"What is this?" Alan as he looked around the table to see a buffet of food lay out on the table.

"It's a going away party for you and Virgil. We wanted to do something special for you boys." Lucy said as she stepped forward, hugging both boys gently.

"Thank you mom." Alan hugged Lucy back warmly.

"Thanks mom." Virgil returned the hug also. Happy that he'd at least gotten to spend a year with his mom, he'd missed her so much these last nineteen-twenty years that she'd been dead in their lives.

"No problem dear, now what do you say…should we dig in before you boys return home?" Lucy asked once more.

"Yeah." Virgil said, feeling hungry enough to eat an elephant.

"Wait!" Jane said as she stepped forward.

"What why?" Jeff asked, curious over why Jane had stopped them from getting dinner.

"Because I think that we should get a picture so I can print it for the boys before they leave. They'll want something to remember us by. Right?" Jane looked at the two young men and her sisters. She knew that having a picture of them would lessen the hurt for when they left. Then they'd know it hadn't just been a dream.

"Hey Brains, can you take the picture?" Alan asked.

"S-Sure." Brains accepted the digital camera from Jane and took a couple steps back to get everybody in the picture. Alecia and Virginia hugged Virgil and Alan's necks while Lucy and Jeff stood behind them. Stacy, Jane and Ginny stood off to the side beside their parents and the group goaded Rachel to get in the picture. Rachel got in begrudgingly before Brains snapped a picture.

"Hey Brains, set the time on this next one and come get in the picture with us." Virgil said, making everybody else join in trying to get Brains to get in the picture. Like Rachel did, Brains got in the picture begrudgingly. The light flashed and the shutter clicked before everyone got out of the group.

Dinner commenced and after a short while, everyone knew that it was time. They all stood and gave each other a hug goodbye. Their lives were all changed so much by this. Not only was Alan finally given an opportunity to know his mom, but he'd made friends along the way and he'd miss them all dearly.

"W-Whenever you're ready." Brains said as he picked up the device. He looked towards the mirror and gulped…he didn't know if this would actually work, but he hoped so.

"I'll miss you Alan." Alecia said as she hugged Alan tightly.

"Me too." Alan returned the hug before moving on to Lucy. "I guess this is farewell mom."

"Yes, at least I was given the blessing of having two sons for the last year, it was so much fun and we'll always be thinking of you." Lucy hugged both Alan and Virgil warmly before she kissed their cheek. "You'd best be off you two."

Alan and Virgil nodded before going over to Brains who had in the meantime fired up the device. Jane who had disappeared shortly after she'd finished dinner came jogging back out and gave an envelope to Alan and Virgil each.

"This is to remember us by." Jane hugged both boys that she'd gotten to know like brothers before she stepped away.

"Thanks Jane." Alan and Virgil said before joining Brains where he stood. Brains had rigged up a hook on his belt to attach the dimension jumping device to and he'd done that before holding his hands out for Virgil and Alan to take.

"We'll h-have to hold hands u-until we're back on the o-other side. When I s-say go, we run a-at the mirror and jump." Brains informed the brothers. Both Alan and Virgil took hold of Brains hands and clutched at the envelopes they'd been given by Jane before looking back at the family. Waving goodbye, they waited for Brains to give the signal.

"On three." Brains said, his heart feeling like it was tearing in two at the sight of Alan and Virgil looking back longingly at their not family. Both boys had obviously gotten attached to this world and didn't wish to leave, but like they'd discussed earlier…neither boy belonged in this dimension. They belonged back with their family, back with International Rescue. "One, Two…Three! G-Go!"

Alan and Virgil ran with Brains towards the mirror and jumped forward. A loud boom was heard, then nothing. Alan, Virgil and Brains were gone – just like that.

XXXXXXX

Jeff woke out of a sound sleep when he'd heard a loud boom from downstairs and he could hear his other sons stirring. Gazing outside, he knew it wasn't a storm…so what was it. Climbing out of bed, he went to go investigate and Scott, John and Gordon must have had the same idea because they too came from their bedrooms and joined Jeff as they headed downstairs. The boom came from Brain's lab and they wondered what it was. Hurrying down the stairs, they were shocked to find not just something that had fallen, but a pile of helter skelter legs and arms flailing around as three people disentangled themselves from the dogpile. "Get you butt out of my face Virgil!"

"Sorry Alan, I'll get my butt out of your face when you let go of me. I can't move." Virgil said as he lay on his back like a turtle struggling to get up.

"Boys?" Jeff said as he was shocked to see his two sons that had been missing in action this past month and a half reappear from thin air. 'Brains?"

"I-I'm here sir." Brains waved from somewhere beneath Alan and Virgil and Scott and John jumped to in order to help their brothers get up.

"How?" Scott began to ask.

"Brains, he showed up in the dimension Alan and I have been trapped in the last year and brought us back." Virgil said.

"Wait, back up…a year? It's only been a month and a couple weeks." Jeff asked in amazement.

"Time c-changes differently between d-dimensions Mr. Tracy." Brains said as he was helped up by Gordon. He looked down at the device which had been attached to his hip to find that it had been destroyed when he, Alan and Virgil had fallen from the tear in the fabric of time and landed in a pile below.

"So where?" John asked, but was halted when Alan gasped. "What? What is it?"

"The pictures! Virgil! Look at the pictures!" Alan was looking at the pictures Jane had given him and Virgil and he smiled. "The girls and mom are still in it!"

"What?" Jeff was just mind boggled until he peered over Alan's shoulder to glimpse the photo. It was a group picture and there like she hadn't aged even a tiny bit was his beloved Lucy. She had her arms wrapped around Alan and Virgil and was smiling serenely at the camera as an identical version of himself stood beside her. "I can't believe it."

"How?" Scott asked as he looked at the picture Virgil held.

"We don't know." Alan said as he smiled at his brother.

"Who are the pretty ladies?" Gordon asked as he ogled at the girls that were gathered around Alan and Virgil.

"They're us, but in another reality." Virgil pointed at the girls in order of age. "This is Stacy, found out her name is Stacy Cassandra Tracy, that is Jane or Janine Grace Tracy…"

"That one is Virgil's counterpart – her name is Virginia Genevieve Tracy and there is Ginny Camille Tracy." Alan pointed out the brunette hugging Virgil and the redhead that was giving a peace sign to the camera.

"So who's the blonde handing on you Al?" Scott asked.

"My counterpart…her name is Alecia Serenity Tracy." Alan said as he smiled sadly at the photo. "I miss them already."

"I know Sprout, I do too." Virgil said as he shared a look with Alan. This was one heck of a ride – one that neither of them were likely to forget. Ever.


End file.
